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1,700 | U.S. to unveil retirement advice rule next week: source | WASHINGTON/NEW YORK (Reuters) - The Obama administration will release a long-awaited proposal on retirement advice on Wednesday, according to a person familiar with the matter. At an event at the Center for American Progress think tank, the U.S. government will unveil its proposed rule requiring brokers who provide retirement advice to follow a “fiduciary” standard of putting clients’ interests before their own. The proposal aims to end potential conflicts of interest by brokers who advise on individual retirement accounts and to protect consumers from buying unnecessary investment products. Required by the 2010 Dodd-Frank Wall Street reform law, the rule has followed a tortuous path toward fruition. Financial companies and lawmakers have worried that the rule’s requirements could drive up costs and keep middle- and low-income people from being able to afford retirement services. The Labor Department, which regulates retirement plan advice, withdrew its initial proposal in 2011 after criticism from the financial services and insurance industries and leaders in both political parties. A new version was proposed a year ago after a nudge from President Barack Obama and discussions with the industry and lawmakers, who considered blocking funds needed for a standard. In January, the Labor Department finished work on the rule and sent it to the White House’s Office of Management and Budget for review. Even though the text was not released, both Washington and Wall Street have been preparing for a possible fight over the latest version. Last month, the U.S. Chamber of Commerce said it is prepared to sue the federal government if it finds the rule unworkable. “The DOL has been very prudent about how they’ve gone about this in trying to make their rule litigation-proof, but opponents will sue in court,” said Scott Puritz, managing director of retirement services firm Rebalance IRA. Despite publicly opposing the rule, many money managers have privately been preparing for its release for several months. Firms including LPL Financial Holdings have been cutting fees and reducing the amounts clients can hold in their brokerage accounts, all in preparation for the rule. “The advice I’ve been giving broker-dealers and advisers is to get in front of the rule and explain it to clients now because after the rule is out, they’ll sound defensive,” said John Anderson who works with financial advisers at SEI Advisor Network, part of at SEI Investments Co.. The Labor Department and Center for American Progress did not respond to requests for comment. | 1 |
1,701 | MAJOR Scientific Magazine’s Editorial Board Just BLASTED Trump’s ‘Lack Of Respect For Science’ | In July, a Washington Post editorial called Donald Trump a unique threat to democracy. This is entirely true. Trump has suggested building a wall to protect from rapists and murderers Mexico is sending to America. He has suggested rounding up members of a religious group, forcing them to be entered into a national database and wear a special little badge, and then be thrown into concentration camps.Trump has ordered his supporters to beat African-American protesters at his hate rallies, even suggesting that he will pay their legal fees if they are arrested while acting as his attack dogs. Hell,he even kicks his own supporters out of his events if he thinks they might be a little too dark for the room. But award-winning monthly science magazine, Scientific American, wants to remind you that he has about as much respect for science as he does a well-educated, black, gay journalist who recently converted to Islam.Four years ago, the magazine s Shawn Otto warned that the new science denialism is creating an existential crisis like few the country has faced before. Otto wrote those words in the heat of a presidential election race that now seems quaint by comparison to the one the nation now finds itself in, the magazine s editorial board wrote in a piece that will appear in September s print edition:Scientific American is not in the business of endorsing political candidates. But we do take a stand for science the most reliable path to objective knowledge the world has seen and the Enlightenment values that gave rise to it. For more than 170 years we have documented, for better and for worse, the rise of science and technology and their impact on the nation and the world. We have strived to assert in our reporting, writing and editing the principle that decision making in the sphere of public policy should accept the conclusions that evidence, gathered in the spirit and with the methods of science, tells us to be true.It won t come as a surprise to anyone who pays even superficial attention to politics that over the past few decades facts have become an undervalued commodity. Many politicians are hostile to science, on both sides of the political aisle. The House Committee on Science, Space, and Technology has a routine practice of meddling in petty science-funding matters to score political points. Science has not played nearly as prominent a role as it should in informing debates over the labeling of genetically modified foods, end of life care and energy policy, among many issues.The current presidential race, however, is something special. It takes antiscience to previously unexplored terrain. When the major Republican candidate for president has tweeted that global warming is a Chinese plot, threatens to dismantle a climate agreement 20 years in the making and to eliminate an agency that enforces clean air and water regulations, and speaks passionately about a link between vaccines and autism that was utterly discredited years ago, we can only hope that there is nowhere to go but up.In October, as we did four years previously, we will assemble answers from the campaigns of the Democratic and Republican nominees on the public policy questions that touch on science, technology and public health and then publish them online. We will support ScienceDebate.org s efforts to persuade moderators to ask important science-related questions during the presidential debates. We encourage the nation s political leaders to demonstrate a respect for scientific truths in word and deed. And we urge the people who vote to hold them to that standard.If Donald Trump is elected President, it will be a precarious position for scientific research in general, and this is something that is important to remember.When you are speaking out against Donald Trump, remember to mention that he doesn t care about scientific progress.Featured image via Getty Images/Jeff Swanson | 0 |
1,702 | Nigerian president says 'cannot afford' to return to Delta insecurity | ABUJA (Reuters) - Nigeria s President Muhammadu Buhari said the country cannot afford to go back to dark days of insecurity in the oil-producing Niger Delta region. In a speech to present the 2018 budget, Buhari called on all sides to maintain dialogue. Last week, the militant group Niger Delta Avengers threatened a brutal and bloody return to the violence that last year slashed oil output. Oil minister Emmanuel Ibe Kachikwu will visit the region this week in an attempt to maintain the ceasefire. Buhari also said the country s exemption from production cuts organized by the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries was a significant help to the country during its most challenging time. | 1 |
1,703 | Trump Made MILLIONS Renting Space To Iranian Bank That Supports Terrorism (DETAILS) | Remember, this is the same guy who has been going around calling Iran one of our greatest enemies, it turns out he seemed to have no problem aiding one of their biggest banks that also happens to be linked to terrorism.Recent reports reveal that Donald Trump was being paid half a million dollars in yearly rent between 1998 and 2003 by Bank Melli. The Iranian bank that not only aided Iran in obtaining materials for their nuclear program but also funneled $100 million to the Quds Force unit of the Iranian Revolutionary Guard, which supports acts of terrorism.Accepting rent payments from this bank may have violated the U.S. embargo that had been slapped on Iran at the time, which means Donald Trump is a serial violator of embargoes placed on enemy nations.Just last week, Trump was outed by Newsweek for violating the Cuban embargo in 1998, which is the same year he bought the General Motors Building in Manhattan and began accepting rent payments from the Iranian bank.Former State Department official Richard Nephew, who helped both President Bush and President Obama hit Iran with sanctions has a big problem with Trump renting office space to an Iranian bank that helps fund act of terrorism. It s a pretty hypocritical position to take, he said. It suggests that his principles are pretty flexible when it comes to him getting paid. Should someone in America have known better than to do business with Iran? Yeah. Indeed, Donald Trump has been a hardliner when it comes to Iran, but apparently that is only when it comes to the campaign trail. In reality, Trump doesn t mind working with dictators or dirty banks linked to terrorism as long as he can line his pockets.This should seriously be enough to end Trump s quest for the presidency. Clearly, he is only running to help himself. As Nephew said, Trump could easily choose money over principles when it comes to negotiating with hostile foreign nations. That s dangerous for our security and our reputation around the world. When Donald Trump says he can negotiate better deals with Russia, Iran, and China, he only means that he can negotiate better deals for himself and his own piggy bank. The last thing this country needs is a president who can be bought by our enemies.Featured image via Drew Angerer/Getty Images | 0 |
1,704 | Ex-Catalonia leader turns himself in to Belgian police: VRT | BRUSSELS (Reuters) - Sacked Catalonian leader Carles Puigdemont has turned himself in to Belgian police, Belgian public broadcaster VRT said on Sunday, citing a source. Belgian prosecutors, who have a European arrest warrant from Spain for Puigdemont and four of his associates, will brief media on the case at 1300 GMT. | 1 |
1,705 | Trump's FBI pick vows independence, says Russia probe no 'witch hunt' | WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President Donald Trump’s pick to head the FBI, Christopher Wray, on Wednesday said he would refuse to pledge loyalty to Trump, rejected his description of the probe into Russian election meddling as a “witch hunt,” and vowed to quit if asked by the president to do something unlawful. Wray, nominated by Trump on June 7 to replace the fired James Comey as Federal Bureau of Investigation director, sought to stake out independence from the president and protect the agency from partisan political influence. Wray even said it would be “highly unlikely” he would agree to meet Trump in a one-on-one situation, as Comey reluctantly did. Wray, who seemed headed for U.S. Senate approval to fill the 10-year post, testified during a 4 1/2-hour hour Judiciary Committee confirmation hearing amid an uproar in Washington over 2016 emails released on Tuesday involving the president’s son, Donald Trump Jr. The emails showed the Republican president’s son agreeing last year to meet a woman he was told was a Russian government lawyer who might have damaging information about Democratic White House rival Hillary Clinton as part of Moscow’s official support for his father. Wray deflected specific questions from Republican Senator Lindsey Graham about the president’s son’s emails, saying he had not read them. But Wray said, “Any threats or effort to interfere with our election from any nation-state or any non-state actor is the kind of thing the FBI would want to know.” Trump’s son did not notify the FBI and wrote “I love it” about the Russian’s offer of information on Clinton. Trump fired Comey on May 9, igniting a political firestorm, and later cited the “Russia thing” as his reason. The Justice Department eight days later named Robert Mueller to serve as special counsel to investigate alleged Russian interference in the 2016 presidential race to help Trump win and potential collusion between Moscow and Trump associates. The Russia matter has dogged Trump’s first six months in office. Wray said he had no reason to doubt the U.S. intelligence community’s conclusion that Russia interfered in part by hacking and releasing emails damaging to Clinton, a claim Moscow denies. Wray worked at the Justice Department under Republican former President George W. Bush when Comey was deputy attorney general and Mueller was FBI director. Wray also represented New Jersey Governor Chris Christie in a political scandal. Trump has called the Russia probe a “witch hunt.” “I do not consider Director Mueller to be on a witch hunt,” Wray told Graham. Wray said he was “very committed” to supporting Mueller’s investigation, calling him a “consummate straight shooter and somebody I have enormous respect for.” Democratic Senator Dianne Feinstein asked Wray to inform the committee “if you learn about any machinations to tamper with” Mueller’s probe. “Understood,” Wray responded. Wray said no one at the White House had asked that he pledge loyalty to Trump, as Comey said the president demanded of him on Jan. 26. Wray said he would not give such an assurance if asked. “My loyalty is to the Constitution, to the rule of law and to the mission of the FBI. And no one asked me for any kind of loyalty oath at any point during this process, and I sure as heck didn’t offer one,” Wray said. Comey previously told the same committee Trump pressed him in a one-on-one session to drop the FBI investigation into former national security advisor Michael Flynn’s ties to Russia. Comey said he felt he was fired in a bid by Trump to undercut the Russia probe. Democratic Senator Patrick Leahy asked Wray, “If the president asks you to do something unlawful or unethical, what do you say?” “First, I would try to talk him out of it. And if that failed, I would resign,” Wray replied. The allegation involving Trump pressing Comey on Feb. 14 over the Flynn probe raised questions about whether Trump’s behavior amounted to obstruction of justice, a potential issue in any potential future effort in Congress to impeach the president and remove him from office. Wray sought to differentiate himself from Comey. Wray was asked about Comey’s July 2016 news conference announcing that no criminal charges were planned against Clinton over her use of a private email server to handle classified information but faulting her conduct. “I can’t imagine a situation where as FBI director I would be giving a press conference on an uncharged individual, much less talk in detail about it,” Wray testified. Graham questioned Wray about a January report by the U.S. news organization Politico that a Ukrainian-American operative who was consulting for the Democratic National Committee had met with Ukrainian embassy officials in Washington in a bid to help Clinton and expose links between Trump, top campaign aide Paul Manafort and Russia. Wray said it would be wrong for Ukraine to meddle in the election and “I’d be happy to dig into it.” | 1 |
1,706 | Priceless! #TuckerCarlson Destroys Leftist #RobReiner Over Russian Propaganda Ad Claiming ‘We’ve Been Invaded!’ [Video] | Major Hollywood liberal activist Rob Reiner is no match for Tucker Carlson who calls Reiner out on his Morgan Freeman propaganda ad on cyber war with Russia. Tucker talks about how our real enemy is China when it comes to cyber wars Haha! Reiner starts to get a little miffed at Tucker when Tucker calls him out on China Epic! This is the meat of the interview: I agree with you we are very divided. And maybe this is one of the reasons. A lot of this is disingenuous. Anyone who looks at cyber warfare will tell you, any honest person, will tell you the Chinese military is the primary culprit in the United States, hacked into the White House not too long ago Nobody said anything. You guys in Hollywood sell your movies in China. You bow to the imperatives of their propaganda and censorship office. You change your movies to suit them. And yet no one says we re at war with China.Notice how Reiner brings up the Facebook ads that the left is now going after because a Russian group spent $100K on ads during the election. So it comes down to the fact that this is an effort at (ironic) propaganda to convince Americans that Russia stole the election. Did you catch that Clapper is part of this??? WTH? If people want to turn their heads at that, it s at their own peril Really?Who s the propagandist Mr. Reiner? He might want to look in the mirror | 0 |
1,707 | The NRA Just Got Caught In A Lie That Shatters EVERYTHING They Stand For | Who can forget how emotional Wayne LaPierre was after Sandy Hook. As he stood at the podium with the NRA logo and raised his voice in disgust and demanded we put more guns outside first-grade classrooms. An armed security guard for every hallway! Never mind that schools in many states have resource officers from their local police or sheriff s department on hand, LaPierre needed to allow the pure anger to come through. Where were all the guns when those kids needed saving?That s the NRA s sole purpose for existing now: To make sure everyone has a gun, possibly 2. The 4.5 million-member organization is a powerhouse on Capitol Hill, spending $3.6 million lobbying in 2015 and nearly another million in campaign contributions, primarily to Republicans. They only care about one thing: a complete lack of gun control laws and regulations. They d like to see the Smiths with a battery of surface to air missiles in their side yard to compliment the Wilsons anti-aircraft cannon. Stingers for all the kids this Fourth of July! They want everyone with a couple hundred bucks to be able to walk in and purchase a gun, no questions asked because that s what the gun manufacturers pay them to want.One of their most successful strategies has been to build up the bad guy theory. How often do you hear some meathead say it would be better to have a gun and not need it than to need a gun and not have one. Well, as it turns out, even with 300 million guns floating around the country, very few are used to thwart a crime or in an actual act of self-defense. Josh Sugarmann, executive director of the Violence Policy Center released a study about the use of firearms in self-defense and other justified shootings by private citizens with some scathing remarks for the lies perpetrated by the NRA: The [National Rifle Association] has staked its entire agenda on the claim that guns are necessary for self-defense, but this gun industry propaganda has no basis in fact. Guns are far more likely to be used in a homicide than in a justifiable homicide by a private citizen. In fact, a gun is far more likely to be stolen than used in self-defense. Purchasing a gun may help enrich the firearms industry, but the facts show it is unlikely to increase your personal safety. In fact, in a nation of more than 300 million firearms, it is striking how rarely guns are used in self-defense. It s not really that striking. The study found that just one in 32 gun deaths involving a criminal were the result of a self-defense scenario. That s when someone is armed and threatening another person. Those people whose toddlers kill each other after finding a gun in a nightstand because their parents need to feel safe from intruders were the victims of 0.1 percent of crimes involving guns.Basically, the NRA is full of sh*t. There is no cavalry of good guys with guns out there ready to stop criminals in the street. There are no packs of trained defense experts hanging out in school libraries waiting to thwart the next shooting. The people we need to really be afraid of are the mentally ill people, the felons and the domestic abusers. More often than not when you re the victim of a crime it s someone you know. You shot at something in your kitchen in the pitch black and then you were surprised to find your teenager came home late? Oops.They re selling fear and lies. ISIS is coming to get you. Burglars want to rape and kill your family and steal your flat screen. The feds are coming to take your guns and toss you in FEMA s famed re-education camps. That s good stuff right there.Featured image from Ethan Miller/Getty Images | 0 |
1,708 | Russian MP says Flynn resignation may show White House turning anti-Russian | MOSCOW (Reuters) - A senior Russian lawmaker said on Tuesday the resignation of U.S. President Donald Trump’s national security adviser, Michael Flynn, suggested Trump had been backed into a corner or that his administration had been “infected” by anti-Russian feeling. Flynn resigned late on Monday after revelations he had discussed U.S. sanctions on Russia with the Russian ambassador to the United States before Trump took office and misled Vice President Mike Pence about the conversations. “Either Trump has not gained the requisite independence and he is consequently being not unsuccessfully backed into a corner, or Russophobia has already infected the new administration also from top to bottom,” MP Konstantin Kosachev was cited as saying by the RIA Novosti news agency. Kosachev is head of the upper house of parliament’s international affairs committee. | 1 |
1,709 | Hillary Flip-Flop Highlight Reel | 21st Century Wire says As political smoke screens go, Hillary Clinton s is rather impressive.As Secretary of State, despite leaving an absolute disaster in the Middle East and North Africa in her wake, the media appear to have given her a free pass. What s more revealing, however, are the flip-flops. They seem to be endless.It s part and parcel of that time honored tradition in American politics: say whatever you have to at that moment in order to appear on the right side of a given audience and never, ever take ownership of anything you ve ever said previous to that moment.Here s a compilation of Hillary Clinton flip-flopping and bending reality for 13 straight minutes | 0 |
1,710 | autobahnprivatisierung linke spur bald nur noch für premiummautzahler | dienstag november flitzer auf dem spielfeld schachwm muss kurzzeitig unterbrochen werden new york dpo eklat bei der schachwm in new york die dritte partie zwischen titelverteidiger magnus carlsen und herausforderer sergei karjakin musste schon nach wenigen zügen zwischenzeitlich unterbrochen werden weil ein flitzer auf das spielfeld rannte bei dem völlig nackten störenfried handelte es sich offenbar um einen jährigen mann aus new york das spiel zwischen dem dänen und dem russen begann sich nach drei stunden und minuten gerade zu entfalten als im publikum plötzlich ein mann aufsprang sich seine kleider vom leib riss und auf das spielfeld stürmte die zuschauer reagierten teils empört teils belustigt auf die unerwartete unterbrechung magnus carlsen überlegt was er gegen den flitzer unternehmen kann karjakinfan elena suchow hatte gute sicht auf die szene die vom schachverband fide geschickt aus der liveübertragung durch einen kamerawechsel herausgeschnitten wurde er bewegte sich mal gerade mal schräg so dass es schwierig war ihn matt zu setzen ich glaube aber er wollte zum könig von carlsen gelangen ob er ihn schlagen wollte oder ob er nur ein fan war keine ahnung karjakin reagierte am schnellsten und versuchte den flitzer mit einem kurz zuvor freigespielten auf a stehenden turm zu schlagen doch da hatte sich der nackte mann bereits mit einem beherzten rösselsprung von feld a auf c in sicherheit gebracht minutenlang entkam der däne den herbeigeeilten sicherheitskräften mit teilweise irregulären spielzügen ua flugrolle von f auf c sprung von d auf f bevor er schließlich zu boden gerungen und abgeführt werden konnte dabei fielen mehrere spielfiguren um erst nach einer viertelstündigen unterbrechung sowie einer hitzigen diskussion ob einer von karjakins bauern wirklich auf b gestanden habe und sofort gegen eine dame eingetauscht werden müsse konnte die partie wieder aufgenommen werden sie endete ohne weiteren zwischenfall in einem remis fed ssi dan foto m shutterstock duncan yoyos cc bysa foto unten ralf roletschek cc bysa artikel teilen | 0 |
1,711 | “MAKE AMERICA MEXICO AGAIN”…The Movement Is Real And Organized | There are people within the Obama administration and within the Mexican government who are fans of the movement to make America and Mexico a fluid nation. After you read the information below, we hope you ll ask your congressman why the heck we re even giving money to LaRaza! THE WHITE HOUSE TRIPLED FUNDING TO LARAZA! Cecilia Munoz is Obama s director of Domestic Policy Council. She is married to a human rights attorney, who is a former counselor to George Soros Open Society Institute, which spends billions to make open borders a reality. She is a former chair of the Center for Community Change, another Soros-funded activist group. The short story is that Munoz moved to the White House from her position as a vice president at La Raza. Once she made the move, taxpayer funding of La Raza soared doubled almost tripled.It s a movement that s real and organized:A number of observers have commented on the proliferation of Mexican flags at rallies in favor of amnesty and open borders, as well as at anti-Trump demonstrations.They ve also noticed the Make America Mexico Again slogan showing up on signs, hats, and hashtags supposedly as a humorous meme, but almost certainly one that exhibits more than a grain of serious intent behind it, even though such an intent would be ironic in the extreme. OBAMA GIVES $30 MILLION TO LA RAZA AFFILIATE Radical Hispanic organization known as The Race Victor Davis Hanson, a Hoover Institution fellow, as well as a writer, historian, and keen observer of current events, put it best when he noted that, Disrupters at a Trump rally in California likewise jumped the shark when some waved the flag of Mexico or bore placards with slogans such as Make America Mexico Again. If the protest was directed against Trump s pledges to deport undocumented immigrants to Mexico, then it made little sense to celebrate the country to which protesters did not wish immigrants to return, or to suggest that immigrants new home should become identical to the old home that they had chosen to leave. But, of course, he s being logical, and logic often has little to do with such matters.Even so, it is sobering to realize that there are organized efforts on the part of overt open borders advocates to recruit as many aliens as possible to naturalize in these last months leading up to the election, with the sole purpose of attempting to steer the election away from presumptive Republican nominee Trump and into the Democratic camp.More disturbing is that the federal government may be lending itself to this effort. It would not be the first time that a Democratic administration has used the organs of government to try to skew voter rolls by adding to them in egregious numbers before an election, and in the process steamrolling proper vetting procedures to be sure it gets done.Most disturbing of all is that the Mexican government itself has now leaped onto this same stage in a shameless attempt at interfering in an American domestic political matter of the first consequence: the election of our next leader (see here and here). If the United States were to attempt to do this in a Mexican election, we would be condemned globally in all quarters, and shouts of !Fuera Yanquis! (Yankees Out!) would resound from the voices of thousands of demonstrators on the streets of Mexico City.Read more: CIS | 0 |
1,712 | Mother's fight to discover fate of dead baby's body finds empty coffin | EDINBURGH (Reuters) - A mother who has been fighting for four decades to find out what happened to her dead baby boy has discovered that his coffin has no human remains in it. Lydia Reid s son Gary was seven days old when he died at Edinburgh s Hospital for Sick Children in 1975, she told the BBC. Reid was a leading campaigner to expose how Scottish hospitals unlawfully retained dead children s body parts for research following a public enquiry into practices at Alder Hey Hospital in Liverpool, England in the 1990s, the BBC said. Lydia Reid wants answers from people ... somebody coming forward to explain to her what has happened to her son s body, David Short, a lawyer acting on her behalf, told the BBC on Monday. Reid has suspected for years that her son s organs were taken without permission, and thought the coffin was empty on the day of the funeral because it weighed so little. But she has had no proof of what happened to his remains until now, following a court order for an exhumation at Saughton Cemetery in Edinburgh. I wanted to be wrong. I wanted to be called a stupid old woman but the minute (the forensic scientist) lifted the shawl out of the ground I knew there was nothing in it. Nothing, she said. My heart hit my feet and I didn t know what to say. Reid has appealed to the Scottish health authorities and the funeral company to help her find out what happened. They know what happened to my son, they know fine and well that they have that knowledge and they can give me peace. Even if he s been incinerated I want to know. Even if he s lying in a jar in a hospital somewhere I want to know. If it s possible to get my son back, I want my son back. And if it s not, then at least tell me, and let me have peace. Reid, now 68, said that after her son died and she asked to see him again she was shown a child that was not hers. This baby was blond and big, my baby was tiny and dark-haired. This was not my son, she said. I objected but they said I was suffering from post-natal depression. Jim Crombie, Deputy Chief Executive at NHS Lothian, said: Our condolences are with the family of Gary Paton. This matter is now being looked into by the police and we are unable to comment further. | 1 |
1,713 | REPORT: Trump Will Likely Force US Taxpayers To Pay Mexican Companies To Build His Border Wall | Adding insult to injury, not only will Donald Trump force U.S. taxpayers to build the wall along the southern border, he will use that money to hire Mexican companies to build it.During his inaugural address, Trump claimed America would follow tow rules.We will follow two simple rules: BUY AMERICAN & HIRE AMERICAN!#InaugurationDay #MAGA?? Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) January 20, 2017That s right. The man who buys materials for his hotels from overseas and has his products made by overseas laborers literally commanded Americans to buy American made goods and to hire American workers.And Trump is already breaking those rules as president.Trump repeatedly promised his supporters that he would build a wall alongside the entirety of the U.S.-Mexican border and force Mexico to pay for it. Trump then said that American taxpayers would pay for it and Mexico will simply reimburse us for the cost. Just before taking office, Trump went to Congress to ask them for the money to build the wall.Yesterday, Trump declared once again on Twitter that he is following through with building the wall.Big day planned on NATIONAL SECURITY tomorrow. Among many other things, we will build the wall! Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) January 25, 2017But now it appears that Trump is getting ready to screw over American taxpayers, American workers, and American companies because he intends to hire Mexican companies to build the wall.According to The Guardian,The construction consultants Gleeds Worldwide said building a 1,000-mile wall the border is 1,889 miles long but large parts are protected by natural barriers including mountains and the Rio Grande would cost $31bn and take 40,000 people more than five years to construct.And because Mexican laborers and Mexican companies are less expensive, Trump will likely pay them to build it, thus depriving American workers and companies from benefiting. The idea of building a 1,000-mile wall which is designed to be impenetrable is something that may well come back to haunt the president, Gleeds chairman Richard Steer said. You ve got to build roads to move the materials and machinery and get the workforce to the location as the wall is being built. You would need a very big labor force to build it some 40,000 people working over five years. Steer went on to state that Mexican workers would benefit the most from the massive project because they are closer to the site and make less pay.Mexican companies are also poised to benefit most from the project because materials are cheaper.Analysts at Bernstein investment bank plotted the location of nearby plants and quarries and found that the Mexican building company Cemex was best-positioned to provide materials on both sides of the border.In short, Trump is going to do the same thing he did in order to build his hotels. He s going to screw over American companies and American workers by using foreign labor and buying materials from foreign companies to do the job. And the taxpayers are going to fund every last wasteful dime of the cost and get nothing in return except a useless ugly wall that will do nothing to stop immigration and will draw comparisons to walls built by other tyrannical regimes such as the Berlin Wall built by the Soviet Union.It s time for Trump supporters to wake up and realize that Trump doesn t give a damn about them at all.Featured image via Drew Angerer/Getty Images | 0 |
1,714 | Castro ally and intellectual Armando Hart dead at 87 | HAVANA (Reuters) - Armando Hart, who headed the Cuban revolution s literacy campaign and served for decades as education and then culture minister under Fidel Castro, died on Sunday from respiratory failure at age 87, Cuban state media reported. Hart, a Marxist intellectual and lawyer, who fought in the urban underground and was imprisoned during the last year of the revolution against U.S.-backed dictator Fulgencio Batista, was married to Haydee Santamaria until 1980, a heroine of the revolution and one of its most important female figures. They had two children, both of whom died in an automobile accident in 2008. Hart was also a member of the Communist Party Political Bureau and the Council of State for many years, the two most powerful executive bodies in Cuba. In 1997, Hart became director of the national center to preserve the memory and works of Jose Marti, the country s most venerated figure, a position he held up to his death. | 1 |
1,715 | Trump Finally Delivers On Promised Phone Call To Soldier’s Wife, Says The Most Disgusting Thing EVER | After two days of controversy over Donald Trump s lack of response, attention, or even seeming to notice the four soldiers who died in an ambush in Niger nearly two weeks ago, he finally called the pregnant widow of one of the fallen soldiers, Sergeant LaDavid Johnson. At Miami International Airport, where she awaited the remains of her 25-year-old husband, Myeshia Johnson took the president s 5-minute call.On hand with Myeshia Johnson was Congresswoman Frederica Wilson, the US Representative from Johnson s district. Wilson has been critical of Trump s response or lack of one for longer than this has even been in the national spotlight. Sgt. Johnson s body was left behind after the ambush, and not recovered by the military for two days after the operation. Many questions remain about the ambush, the operation, and the planning that went into the entire effort. Some consider Trump s bluster on calling military families and his attack on President Barack Obama to be a distraction from those questions that have arisen.According to Rep Wilson, the phone call was insensitive and insane, and if accurate, what she conveyed from Sgt. Johnson s widow is possibly the worst thing anyone has ever said to the widow of a soldier, let alone the worst thing a president has said. Trump told Mrs. Johnson, He knew what he signed up for But when it happens it hurts anyway. Those are the words of a man who has either never suffered a loss or has never cared about one.The call was first reported by Ross Palombo, the Washington Bureau Chief for an ABC affiliate in Miami. After Palombo tweeted about the Congresswoman s account of the call, he was contacted by the White House, only for officials to chide him and tell him that the affair was none of his business:BREAKNG: Top White House official tells me about @realDonaldTrump comment to soldier s widow The President s conversations with the families of American heroes who have made the ultimate sacrifice are private. @WPLGLocal10 Ross Palombo (@RossPalombo) October 18, 2017This kind of response is, unfortunately, just what America has come to expect from the disgusting Donald Trump and his cohorts in the White House.Featured image via Mark Wilson/Getty Images | 0 |
1,716 | Obama, Argentina's Macri discuss Brazil's political crisis | BUENOS AIRES (Reuters) - U.S. President Barack Obama discussed Brazil’s political crisis in a bi-lateral meeting with neighboring Argentina’s President Mauricio Macri in Buenos Aires on Wednesday, saying he hoped it could be effectively resolved. “Their democracy is sufficiently mature, their systems of laws and structures I think are strong enough that this will get resolved in a way that allows Brazil ultimately to prosper and be the significant world leader that it is,” Obama said. | 1 |
1,717 | Pay Off: The Establishment Rewards Comey with $2 million Book Deal | 21st Century Wire says For his role in helping to sow chaos in the US political system and for promulgating the official conspiracy theory that Russia somehow hacked the US electoral process helping Donald Trump to win last November, and also ensuring that no charges were brought anywhere near the Clintons former FBI Director James Comey has just received the first of many gifts from the Establishment.James Comey is no stranger to elite circles, and is clearly regarded by those at the top as a safe pair of hands. As 21WIRE reported last year, James Comey served on the board of banking giant HSBC the same bank that was convicted of international drugs and terrorism money laundering, as well as a bank which was closely linked to the corrupt Clinton Foundation. After working fellow lawyers Eric Holder and Lorretta Lynch to stage manage the public fall out from revelations about HSBC s epic criminal enterprise, and their subsequent slap on the wrist, Comey was then rewarded by President Obama when he was appointed head of the FBI in 2013.By anyone s measure, Comey was central to the mess which has resulted from the political circus surrounding the establishment s efforts to derail the Trump campaign, and now through the Trump presidency.Congratulations. You got your book deal. You ve made it James AP/The GuardianThe former FBI director James Comey has signed a $2m ( 1.5m) deal for a book about leadership and decision-making that will draw on his career in government, which included the high-profile drama leading up to his sacking from Donald Trump s administration.According to the publisher, Comey will tell how he handled the bureau s probe into Hillary Clinton s private email server and the allegations of ties between Russia and Trump s presidential campaign.Trump sacked Comey as FBI chief in May, later telling NBC News that he was angered by the FBI s investigation into this Russia thing , which he insists is a fake story. Comey has since testified before Congress that Trump asked him to end an investigation into former National Security Adviser Michael T Flynn and kept memos about his meetings with the president.The book was acquired by Flatiron, an Macmillan imprint, which promises that Comey will cite examples from some of the highest-stakes situations in the past two decades of US government . It will also share yet unheard anecdotes from his long and distinguished career .The book is currently untitled and scheduled for publication next spring. Throughout his career, James Comey has had to face one difficult decision after another, as he has served the leaders of our country, Flatiron said in a statement. His book promises to take us inside those extraordinary moments in our history, showing us how these leaders have behaved under pressure. By doing so, Director Comey will give us unprecedented entry into the corridors of power, and a remarkable lesson in leadership itself. Continue this story at The GuardianREAD MORE COMEY NEWS AT: 21st Century Wire Comey FilesSUPPORT OUR WORK BY SUBSCRIBING & BECOMING A MEMBER @21WIRE.TV | 0 |
1,718 | Trump to attend NATO summit in Brussels May 25 | WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. President Donald Trump will attend a summit of leaders of NATO nations on May 25 in Brussels, the White House said on Tuesday. Trump’s visit will give him an opportunity to press his case for why many NATO allies need to boost defense spending to help spread the cost of the security umbrella. Trump has made key European allies nervous with his demands that they increase defense spending and his talk of establishing an alliance with Russia to counter Islamic State militants. “The president looks forward to meeting with his NATO counterparts to reaffirm our strong commitment to NATO, and to discuss issues critical to the alliance, especially allied responsibility-sharing and NATO’s role in the fight against terrorism,” a White House statement said. Trump will welcome NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg to the White House on April 12 to discuss “how to strengthen the alliance to cope with challenges to national and international security,” the statement said. | 1 |
1,719 | Turkey plans to change embassy street name in row with UAE: report | ISTANBUL (Reuters) - Turkey plans to change the name of the street where the embassy of the United Arab Emirates is located to Fakhreddin Pasha, the historical figure at the center of a diplomatic row caused by a retweet, the state-run Anadolu agency said on Saturday. UAE Foreign Minister Sheikh Abdullah bin Zayed Al Nahayan retweeted last week accusations that Ottoman forces led by Fakhreddin Pasha stole money and manuscripts from Medina in 1916 during World War One when the city was under Ottoman rule. Medina is now part of Saudi Arabia. The mayor of the Turkish capital Ankara ordered preparations to change the name of the street where the UAE mission is located to that of the former commander and one-time governor of Medina, Anadolu said. Without naming him, Erdogan suggested on Thursday that the UAE minister was ignorant. The UAE charge d affaires in Ankara was also summoned to the Foreign Ministry over the issue. UAE officials had no immediate comment on dispute. The UAE, a close U.S. ally, sees Erdogan s Islamist-rooted ruling party as a friend of Islamist forces which the UAE opposes across the Arab world. Ties were further strained by Ankara s support for Qatar after Saudi Arabia, the UAE, Bahrain and Egypt imposed sanctions on the Gulf nation in June over a dispute in which the Arab states accused Doha of supporting terrorism. Doha denies this. | 1 |
1,720 | Trump’s Weekend Jaunts To Florida Are Putting The U.S. In Grave Danger | Trump s selfishness knows no bounds. He thinks as president and commander-in-chief that he can do what he wants, and others will handle the details. There s one so-called detail, however, that he really needs to consider: All that time he spends at Mar-a-Lago? It s not just costing us a bundle. It s a national security nightmare that could be putting us in grave danger, and it grows with each visit.Mar-a-Lago was not built for the U.S. president, it was built as a resort for rich people like Donald Trump. The security risks are astonishing, especially since the guests who frequent the place get less vetting than what Trump thinks Syrian refugees get. That, according to former Secret Service agents and other experts, means spies and other enemies can get at him easily.In fact, two former CIA directors, Michael Hayden and John McLaughlin, both say that foreign intelligence operatives would love to get their hands on Mar-a-Lago, and it would be very easy because the place is so unsecure. They could eavesdrop on conversations and start building dossiers on key officials, and learn national secrets they could then use against us because Trump was relaxed and stupid.Just look at what happened when one of his weekends in February turned into a national security event as North Korea shot off a missile into the Sea of Japan. Guests there were taking pictures of the briefings and discussions and posting them to social media in a massive breach of security, even though Trump later insisted that no sensitive discussions took place, nor was sensitive material in view of his guests.That s not all, though. All of Trump s clubs present these risks because the members are welcome at Mar-a-Lago as he makes a habit of going there every single weekend, and they have access to him at his other clubs as well. That includes his international clubs, meaning foreigners have unsecure access to Trump.Spies wouldn t even have to show up at Mar-a-Lago, or anywhere else. They could bribe or blackmail people close to Trump to get intelligence on us, including key club employees whose names, email addresses and phone numbers are available on Mar-a-Lago s website. The club s managing director has special clearance to get close to Trump. People in positions like that are juicy targets for spies.It s not bad enough that Trump insisted on using a personal, unsecure phone for a lot of his communications, including Twitter (he has a secure phone now, but reports are conflicting about whether he still uses his old, unsecure Android phone). He has make things worse by spending all his weekends at his estate, with people who worship him but could be anyone, or under anyone s influence.Basically, Trump must have all his old habits and he doesn t give a damn about how unsecure they are. That means he doesn t give a damn about U.S. national security. We have a man in the White House who s one of the worst security risks we ve had.Featured image by Joe Raedle via Getty Images | 0 |
1,721 | Trump’s New Pathetic Anti-Hillary Ad Frames Bill Clinton As A Rapist (VIDEO) | If there s anyone who shouldn t be pointing fingers at other men for the mistreatment of women, it s probably Donald Trump. Yet today, Trump completely ignored his grotesque track record with women, as well as his own rape allegations for the sake of a childish attack on his rival, Democratic front runner Hillary Clinton.In the complete absence of self-awareness, Trump posted an attack ad on Hillary today via Instagram, bringing to light past allegations of sexual assault against her husband, former president Bill Clinton. This isn t the first time Trump has attacked the Clintons this way, and they ve done a decent job defending themselves. But this time, Trump has taken things a step further by actually using recordings of the victims accusing Bill. As the ad comes to a close, Hillary is heard laughing while ominous music plays in the background.You can watch the attack ad below:Is Hillary really protecting women?A video posted by Donald J. Trump (@realdonaldtrump) on May 23, 2016 at 8:27am PDTAs Hillary has positioned herself as being a champion for women (as she was long before her presidential campaign began), Trump feels that his best shot at turning female voters away from the former Secretary of State is to highlight her husband s problematic sexual past.The interesting thing about this is that Trump himself has seemingly forgotten that he has also been accused of rape. In trying to smear the Clintons with this nasty ad, Trump has ironically and unintentionally made a case against himself. In the 1990s, Trump s first wife Ivana had accused the business mogul of brutally raping her while they were still married. Here s what Ivana said, which appeared in the Trump biography Lost Tycoon:Ivanka Trump statementAnd Trump s misogynistic attitudes toward women don t stop there. He s been accused of groping women, being super creepy when it comes to sexualizing his own daughter, has attacked numerous female celebrities, personalities and politicians including Fox News Megyn Kelly and Senator Elizabeth Warren, and said that women should be punished for seeking abortions. Not to mention, there is a never-ending list of every misogynistic, sexist thing Trump has said or done to women. So while Trump is trying to soil the Clintons name, all he s really done is just put a spotlight on himself. There s a reason why almost 75% of American women don t like The Donald, but he seems to live in denial.Featured image is a screenshot | 0 |
1,722 | OUCH! POST DEBATE: HILLARY GIVES Tim Kaine A Painful Preview Of What It Feels Like When You Disappoint Her | Things didn t work out very well for Vince Foster when he disappointed Crooked Hillary. Does Tim Kaine know what he s getting himself into? Maybe he should have a little sit down with Bill before this thing goes too far. I mean, we re talking about a guy who refuses, when asked to identify as a male It took a while, but Democratic presidential nominee finally called running mate Tim Kaine more than 12 hours after the end of the first vice presidential debate.Clinton and Kaine spoke on the phone at 11:45 Wednesday morning, more than 12 hours and a full news cycle at the end of the contentious TV smackdown that Kaine had spent days preparing for.Clinton also emailed Kaine about the performance, but it isn t clear whether she reached out to her running mate Tuesday night, while the debate was the talk of commentators and the political class.In case you missed it, here s a little clip of Kaine s horrible performance. He certainly didn t do Queen Hillary any favors that night:https://youtu.be/obsWi2ruyL0Clinton got asked how Kaine did as she boarded a plane en route to fundraisers in D.C. Wednesday. She flashed two thumbs up but didn t say anything. Clinton spokesman Nick Merrill, asked whey the two didn t connect sooner on what was most likely Kaine s most consequential night of the campaign, responded: They emailed a bit and connected this morning. Clinton didn t speak publicly about Kaine s performance until after 6:00 pm on Wednesday, when she praised him. Did anybody see Tim Kaine in the debate last night? Clinton asked at a Women for Hillary event at a Washington hotel, prompting the crowd to cheer. I though Tim did a great job and every time he tried to push Mike Pence to defend what Donald Trump has said and done, Pence just bobbed and weaved and tried to get out of the way because after all, trying to defend Donald Trump is an impossible task, she said. Daily Mail | 0 |
1,723 | Senate begins debate on final Republican tax bill | WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The Republican-led U.S. Senate voted on Tuesday to begin debate on sweeping tax legislation, setting the stage for lawmakers to hold their final vote on the tax cut package later in the evening. The Senate voted 51-48 to debate the legislation about an hour after the House of Representatives approved what is widely expected to become the first overhaul of the U.S. tax code in more than 30 years. The debate period is due to last 10 hours officially but could be shortened to as little as five hours by parliamentary procedure. | 1 |
1,724 | TOP 10 PICTURES : Putin Vs. “Mommy Pants” Obama | Our red line President continues to lose relevance on the international stage, as Putin starts to look more like a world leader. Is it any wonder the most tough talking presidential candidates are at the top of every poll in America? We The People are sick and tired of watching the wussification of America taking place with our Wuss In Chief leading the way. The humorous pictures below pretty much sum up the way Obama is being seen by the international community verses the position of strength we have always maintained.We are not endorsing or condoning the actions of Vladimir Putin with these memes. They are intended to point out Putin s obvious position of strength vs. the position of weakness that Obama has assumed.Putin wants an anti-Hitler-style coalition that will destroy ISIS. He claims backing Assad is the only way to defeat Islamic terrorists in the Middle East and Syria.Barack Obama and Prime Minister David Cameron insist instead on defeating Bahsar Assad. Most of the world meanwhile would likely agree that ISIS is who we should be focusing on right now. America needs to be asking why Obama is still treating them like a jayvee team Here are some zingers that have made our top 10 list of best Obama (Mommy Pants) VS Putin memes:#1#2 #3#4#5#6#7#8#9#10 | 0 |
1,725 | THE LEFT AND JK ROWLING GO BALLISTIC! Claim Trump Ignored Disabled Boy…We’ve Got The Truth! [Video] | JK Rowling and the left went on a twitter tirade claiming that President Trump ignored a disabled boy:How stunning, and how horrible, that Trump cannot bring himself to shake the hand of a small boy who only wanted to touch the President. /4x J.K. Rowling (@jk_rowling) July 28, 2017That man occupies the most powerful office in the free world and his daily outrages against civilised norms are having a corrosive effect /3 J.K. Rowling (@jk_rowling) July 28, 2017This video was reposted everywhere on twitter with the claim that Trump ignored the boy Not true!President @realDonaldTrump snubbed a kid in a wheelchair today pic.twitter.com/qgG3k4BpBP chrispossible (@chrispossible) July 24, 2017THE CRAZY LEFTISTS ARE WRONG AGAIN: President Trump goes right over to the little boy to shake his hand in the beginning of the video.There ya go! Will the left do anything to make Trump look bad? Yes!!! | 0 |
1,726 | Turkey issues warrants for 106 'matchmakers' in cleric's network | ISTANBUL (Reuters) - Turkish authorities issued detention warrants on Monday for 106 people believed to have worked as matchmakers for a network accused of orchestrating last year s failed military coup, a spokesman for the Istanbul police said. Sixty-two of the suspects had been detained in the operation centered in Istanbul and spread over 20 other provinces, he said. Operations to locate the rest were ongoing. The suspects were marriage officials for supporters of the U.S.-based cleric Fethullah Gulen, who the Turkish government says was behind the failed July 2016 coup, the spokesman said. Gulen denies any involvement in the coup attempt. They were believed to have helped set up arranged marriages for some of Gulen s followers, he said. Turkish officials say the Gulen network closely monitored the personal and professional lives of some supporters, including their education, careers and marriages. Turkish police and state intelligence officials identified the suspects in a joint operation using conversations traced on ByLock, an encrypted messaging application commonly used by Gulen s supporters, the spokesman said. Turkey has identified 215,092 users of ByLock and has launched investigations into 23,171 of them, the interior minister said last month. More than 50,000 people, including security officials, military personnel and civil servants, have been detained in the aftermath of the coup. The crackdown has alarmed Turkey s Western allies and rights groups, who say President Tayyip Erdogan is using the coup as a pretext to muzzle dissent. The government says the measures, taken under emergency rule that was imposed after the coup, are necessary due to the security threats Turkey faces. | 1 |
1,727 | YIKES! Tomi Lahren DEMOLISHES Hillary: “How Dare You Blame Donald Trump…EXCUSE ME?…Did 4 Americans Die On His Watch In Benghazi? [VIDEO] | Wow! Bravo Tomi! You really nailed it this time Enjoy! This notion that political incorrectness is somehow responsible for terror attacks is absolute BS! Do you think we are stupid? How dare you blame this crap on Donald Trump! Excuse me? Was he Secretary of State? Did 4 Americans die on his watch in Benghazi? | 0 |
1,728 | video underwater handgun takes fishing to the next level of fun daily wire | other writers
swedish democrat party member of parliament anna hagwall has announced her resignation from all party posts and will not stand for reelection in after a furor following her exposure of the fact that a single family of jews control the swedish media one jewish family helps to brainwash the entire population of sweden this swedish mp has had enough
the uproar followed her letter to the aftonbladet newspaper in which she said that ethnicity should be a factor in determining media ownership of more than percentan obvious reference to the jewish bonnier family media group
the bonnier group owns book publishers business and trade press newspapers digital news platforms film production companies magazines major newspapers tv stations and other media outletsand quite literally dominates the controlled media in sweden
hagwall had earlier submitted a motion to the swedish parliament which proposed cuts to the state subsidies paid to media in sweden
although she never mentioned jews by name hagwall said in an explanatory letter to the aftonbladet that it would be a good idea to let bonniers newspapers go under so that no family ethnic group or company could control more than percent of the media
an entire percent of the media is owned and controlled by the same owners hagwell wrote this is not acceptable therefore media ownership should be spread over many independent companies and people in order to change this i suggest press subsidies only for the independent media
when asked by aftonbladet how the abolition of press subsidies to the countrys local newspapers reduce bonniers power over the media in sweden hagwall answered by email that most small newspapers are directly or indirectly controlled by bonnier and why they have to be subsidized by the swedish taxpayer is a mystery
let the little bonnier newspapers in the provinces go under because then a void will be created which can be filled by newspapers that care about people and business owners
she also said that the swedish public service broadcaster sveriges television svt should be switched to pay channels to reduce svts propagation of the politically correct agenda
the comments provoked a stream of attacks upon hagwall and the swedish democrat leadership also distanced itself from her saying in a statement that the matter will affect her future in the party
this week hagwall resigned her position as member of the parliamentary committee on taxation and internal group leader of the sweden democrats tax policy group she also will not seek reelection to parliament in at the request of the party leadership and it is currently unclear if she will continue to sit in parliament for the remainder of the current term | 1 |
1,729 | As Trump warned North Korea, his 'armada' was headed toward Australia | WASHINGTON (Reuters) - When U.S. President Donald Trump boasted early last week that he had sent an “armada” as a warning to North Korea, the aircraft carrier strike group he spoke of was still far from the Korean peninsula, and headed in the opposite direction. It was even farther away over the weekend, moving through the Sunda Strait and then into the Indian Ocean, as North Korea displayed what appeared to be new missiles at a parade and staged a failed missile test. The U.S. military’s Pacific Command explained on Tuesday that the strike group first had to complete a shorter-than-initially planned period of training with Australia. But it was now “proceeding to the Western Pacific as ordered,” it said. The perceived communications mix-up has raised eyebrows among Korea experts, who wonder whether it erodes the Trump administration’s credibility at a time when U.S. rhetoric about the North’s advancing nuclear and missile capabilities are raising concerns about a potential conflict. “If you threaten them and your threat is not credible, it’s only going to undermine whatever your policy toward them is. And that could be a logical conclusion from what’s just happened,” said North Korea expert Joel Wit at the 38 North monitoring group, run by Johns Hopkins University’s School of Advanced International Studies. The U.S. military initially said in a statement dated April 10 that Admiral Harry Harris, the commander of Pacific Command, directed the Carl Vinson strike group “to sail north and report on station in the Western Pacific.” Reuters and other news outlets reported on April 11 that the movement would take more than a week. The Navy, for security reasons, says it does not report future operational locations of its ships. Defense Secretary Jim Mattis initially appeared to play down the deployment on April 11, saying the Vinson was “just on her way up there because that’s where we thought it was most prudent to have her at this time.” “There’s not a specific demand signal or specific reason why we’re sending her up there,” he said. But even Mattis initially misspoke about the strike group’s itinerary, telling a news conference that the Vinson had pulled out of an exercise with Australia. The Pentagon has since corrected the record, saying the ship’s planned port visit to Fremantle, Australia, was canceled - not the exercise with Australia’s navy. On April 15, the U.S. Navy even published a photo showing the Vinson transiting the Sunda Strait. here From April 16-18, the website www.gonavy.jp/CVLocation.html reported that the Vinson was in the Indian Ocean. A U.S. military official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said the Vinson carried out the exercises after passing through the Sunda Strait and wrapped them up this week. | 1 |
1,730 | Episode #205 – SUNDAY WIRE: ‘Dirty Vegas’ with Jay Dyer, Hesher & Shawn Helton | IMAGE: Real-life battlefield shooting range in Las Vegas (see video).Episode #205 of SUNDAY WIRE SHOW resumes on Oct 8th, 2017 as host Patrick Henningsen brings you this week s LIVE broadcast on the Alternate Current Radio Network (ACR) covering all the top news stories both at home and internationally LISTEN LIVE ON THIS PAGE AT THE FOLLOWING SCHEDULED SHOW TIMES:5pm-8pm UK Time | 12pm-3pm ET (US) | 9am-12am PT (US) This week the SUNDAY WIRE is broadcasting LIVE from the US as guest hosts Jay Dyer and ACR s Hesher are joined by special guest Shawn Helton, and other special guests Basil Valentine, ACR s Funk Soul, and a report by Patrick Henningsen from the 2040 Transhumanist Agenda conference in London. will be delivering a powerful (and highly controversial) show this week covering the biggest stories internationally including the recent mass shooting in Las Vegas. The team will do into a deep investigative analysis and summary of the forensic case thus far, including expert ballistic analysis of the official story, in what is said to be America s biggest ever mass shooting. Enjoy the show SUPPORT 21WIRE SUBSCRIBE & BECOME A MEMBER @21WIRE.TVStrap yourselves in and lower the blast shield this is your brave new world *NOTE: THIS EPISODE MAY CONTAIN STRONG LANGUAGE AND MATURE THEMES*Download Episode #205Sunday Wire Radio Show Archives | 0 |
1,731 | “Peaceful” Muslims Scream: “THIS IS FOR ALLAH” After Driving Van 50 MPH Pedestrians…3 ARMED Terrorists On Run In Gun-Free London…Britain’s PM Calls It “Potential Act Of Terror” [VIDEO] | Just another day in the holy month of Ramadan London is the scene of carnage again with another terror attack. A van plowed into pedestrians on London Bridge with reports of men jumping out of the van to stab random people. We re posting details as they come in from the UK. The Muslim Mayor of London is too busy criticizing President Trump for taking measures to ensure the United States is not subjected to never-ending acts of terrorism to actually identify and work to solve the radical Muslim issue that is exploding in the UK.Meanwhile, President Trump has offered the help of the United States to the citizens of London and of the UK:Whatever the United States can do to help out in London and the U. K., we will be there WE ARE WITH YOU. GOD BLESS! Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) June 3, 2017Popular conservative talk show host Katie Hopkins thanks President Trump for taking the issue of Islamic terrorism seriously while hammering the Muslim Mayor of London:Thank you @realDonaldTrump. Please excuse Mr Khan't. The man who calls himself Mayor. pic.twitter.com/RwvbPVY92m Katie Hopkins (@KTHopkins) June 3, 2017UPDATE: MORE: UNCONFIRMED reports say at least 5 terrorists with weapons on the run in London, several killed, several injured. BNL (@BreakingNLive) June 3, 2017UPDATE: Eyewitness on London Bridge tells the BBC: The 3 men exited the van with knives shouted "This is for Allah" before stabbing people BNL (@BreakingNLive) June 3, 2017BREAKING NEWS: Many injured as car ploughs into people at London bridge.DEVELOPING pic.twitter.com/1fuoC5y652 BNL (@BreakingNLive) June 3, 2017Traffic cameras captures huge police activity near London bridge as police say it is still not under control. pic.twitter.com/0URXD0yvR2 BNL (@BreakingNLive) June 3, 2017UPDATE: Witness say he saw a van drive into pedestrians at London Bridge and 3 men carrying knives jump out and then attack people BNL (@BreakingNLive) June 3, 2017BREAKING: Multiple people have been killed in the incidents in London, police say BBC BNL (@BreakingNLive) June 3, 20173 ARMED terrorists are reportedly on the run in gun-free London:MORE: At least three armed terrorists on the run in London. BNL (@BreakingNLive) June 3, 2017Talk show host Katie Hopkins tells British citizens stop being complacent, DEMAND ACTION! Do not let them tell you we stand united. Do not let them tell you we carry on as normal. Refuse to be lied to. DEMAND ACTION #LondonBridge Katie Hopkins (@KTHopkins) June 3, 2017Hopkins goes on to slam Muslim Mayor Sadiq Khan who has been very vocal in his criticism of President Trump for wanted to do a better job of vetting refugees coming to America from terror hotbed nations: No, @SadiqKhan. We do not want to hear a single word from you. Not one word. London Bridge has fallen down on your watch, son #LondonBridge Katie Hopkins (@KTHopkins) June 3, 2017Katie Hopkins is furious .demands Britain gets a handle their radical Muslim issue:Britain does not stand united. Close the borders. Round up the watch list. Incarcerate the lot. ENOUGH #LondonBridge https://t.co/ZlVXZmmYnm Katie Hopkins (@KTHopkins) June 3, 2017UPDATE: Police now urgently telling crowd to leave the area around Monument Station, as reports of one Suspect inside the station BNL (@BreakingNLive) June 3, 2017INFO: Train stations closed in London: London Bridge, Waterloo East, Charing Cross and Cannon Street due to ongoing incidents pic.twitter.com/LMlI9KdqGN BNL (@BreakingNLive) June 3, 2017UPDATE: One suspect has been apprehended:https://twitter.com/TEN_GOP/status/871152269202522112Meanwhile Britain s Prime Minister Theresa May calls this a potential act of terror! https://twitter.com/TEN_GOP/status/871150568907169793 | 0 |
1,732 | FORMER DEMOCRAT WHO VOTED FOR TRUMP RIPS DEMOCRATS: ‘They’ve done nothing for us, nothing but promise.’ [Video] | After a Fox Business interview earlier in the day (see below), Gino DeFabio was asked to speak at the Ohio Rally by President Trump. Speaking from the heart, Gino explained how he knew he had to support Trump in 2016:Gino s interview on Fox Business caught the eye of President Trump:DiFabio was interviewed by Fox s David Asman who immediately pointed out DeFabio s t-shirt: By the way, your t-shirt we can just see the first part. It says Trump won. What s the second part? DeFabio proudly said, Deal with it Asman asked what made a lifelong Democrat switch parties to support Trump: My whole life I was raised Democrat. You re in the steel valley here. We re proud of our work ethic. We re proud of our families and that s how we are here. For about the last thirty five years I ve been hearing oh yeah, we re going to fight for you. We re going to take care of you. I m going to go to Washington and do this and do that. They ve done nothing for us, nothing but promise. DeFabio was asked about overregulation: The regulations they put on us are incredible, he said. They re killing jobs. They re trying to kill the coal industry. If he gets rid of the regulations, frees up some of the trade deals that are ridiculous where we just give everything away, we re all going to be better off. How could you be against that message? President Trump had to love the answer to the question Asman asked about the Russia: There s no Russians behind the trees. There s no Russians under Jared Kushner s bed. They are trying to find an excuse why they lost the election and now they are trying to come up with a new message. Every time they beat the guy down, he gets stronger. Believe me, we re not buying the fake news and the fake media, and we re not buying the Russians, so just stop it. AWESOME! | 0 |
1,733 | In challenge to Trump, 17 Republicans join fight against global warming | NEW YORK (Reuters) - Seventeen congressional Republicans signed a resolution on Wednesday vowing to seek “economically viable” ways to stave off global warming, challenging the stated views of President Donald Trump, who has called climate change a hoax. Republicans Elise Stefanik of New York, Carlos Curbelo of Florida and Ryan Costello of Pennsylvania introduced the legislation in the U.S. House of Representatives, pledging to “study and address the causes and effects of measured changes to our global and regional climates” and seek ways to “balance human activities” that contribute. Several Republicans who signed the resolution, which is non-binding, represent parts of the country most affected. Curbelo hails from Miami, where streets regularly flood at high tide due to rising sea levels. “This issue was regrettably politicized some 20 or so years ago and we are in the process of taking some of the politics out, reducing the noise and focusing on the challenge and on the potential solutions,” Curbelo said in a call with journalists on Tuesday. A spokesman for the White House declined to comment. Jay Butera, a congressional liaison for the non-partisan group the Citizens Climate Lobby, called the resolution “an important step toward getting both parties focused on finding solutions.” A similar resolution was introduced by Republicans in the previous Congress, with 17 signing. Some of those lawmakers lost their re-election bids. Trump’s newly confirmed Environmental Protection Agency administrator, Scott Pruitt, said in a CNBC interview on Thursday that he did not believe carbon dioxide was a major contributor to climate change. The Sierra Club on Tuesday asked the EPA’s inspector general to investigate whether Pruitt violated agency policy by making the comments. “The head of the EPA’s comments were disconcerting,” Curbelo said. “What he said was akin to saying the earth is flat in 2017. We must insist on evidence-based and science-based policies.” Curbelo said some Trump allies were ready to work on fixing climate change but he declined to identify them. The resolution came amid growing concern and confusion over the way Trump’s environmental policies were taking shape. After calling climate change a hoax and vowing during the 2016 presidential race to pull the United States out of Paris climate accord if elected, Trump asked energy companies for advice on whether to indeed withdraw. And his call on Wednesday for a new review of U.S. vehicle fuel-efficiency standards put in place under former President Barack Obama drew criticism from Democrats and environmental groups who accused him of risking more carbon emissions and higher fuel costs. Two sources told Reuters the administration has been contacting U.S. energy companies about the climate agreement and would consider their input in making a decision on it shortly. An overwhelming majority of scientists say human activity - including the burning of oil, gas and coal - is the main driver of rising global temperatures. Most Republicans either dispute that or disagree that it is an urgent problem. Melinda Pierce, the Sierra Club’s legislative director, said her group would keep an eye on how Republicans who signed the resolution voted on more impactful legislation. “We’ve seen that many of the Republicans sponsoring this resolution have voted against climate action in the past, so their real commitment will be measured by how they vote on legislation that undermines climate progress or promotes fossil fuel projects moving forward,” she said. | 1 |
1,734 | Kenyan lecturers end strike, say deal reached with government | NAIROBI (Reuters) - Lecturers in Kenya s public universities ended a strike on Saturday after reaching agreement with the government over pay and other issues, according to a statement from their union. They had gone on strike at the beginning of November in protest at the government s failure to implement a March deal to increase salaries and housing allowance. In their statement the lecturers said they had struck a broad agreement with the government on a range of issues including negotiations on better pay, clearing outstanding pensions, and a pledge not to victimize anyone for participating in the strike. We have now achieved the objectives of our strike. The strike is over, the statement said. Strikes by public workers in the East African country have grown in frequency in recent years, often fueled by grievances over pay. | 1 |
1,735 | “REFUGEE DRESS” Sold Online Forced to Change Name After Social Media Goes Ballistic | We d love to know your thoughts on this! We think it s sort of unreal that this company was forced via social media to drop the name and change it from Refugee Dress to Oxford Dress Does anyone see the irony in this name change?We also want to weigh in on just how unattractive this dress is and how it just looks like a sheet. Your thoughts?A controversial Refugee Dress was still being sold Tuesday on the website of clothing retailer UZINYC, six days after the company said it had changed the name of the much criticized dress.WHAT S INTERESTING IS THAT THE NAME OF THIS DRESS HAS BEEN AROUND SINCE 2007: We named the dress in 2007 when we could not see ourselves escaping the reality of a global economy spinning out of control The brand was forced to change the name of the $119 dress from Refugee Dress to Oxford Dress, after a storm of criticism on social media. But while the company had re-named the title of the page, it seemed to have forgotten about the picture captions, which still label the dress as a black refugee dress. That label can still be seen by scrolling down the homepage of the website and clicking a photo preview of the garment.TWITTER IS ABUZZ OVER THE DRESS:So this brand thought it was appropriate to sell a refugee dress? Disgusting. #uzinyc https://t.co/mxlMDQWG4p pic.twitter.com/2WSKojHFE5 Rianna Croxford (@The_Crox) July 31, 2017UZINYC recently told Mic that it originally created the dress to draw attention to the refugee crisis. We feel that it is important to keep these issues within public discourse, co-founder Mari Gustafson told the website. The American economy has recovered, and through perseverance and luck our company has recovered as well. We are now able to provide jobs for others and give them a sense of hope and stability. We are sorry if we have disturbed anyone, Gustafson told Today.com.Last week, critics of the dress took to Twitter to complain about the use of the phrase refugee to market a dress. Refugees are neither nomads nor sales gimmick, one Twitter user wrote. Apologize, rename dress, donate to UNHCR. Via: Fortune | 0 |
1,736 | Demoralized and divided: inside Catalonia's police force | BARCELONA (Reuters) - With the Spanish government ready to take over the running of Catalonia on Friday, the loyalty of the local police to Madrid or to the Catalan cause will be tested if they are ordered to drag their former political masters from office. Spanish police provoked international outcry by using batons and rubber bullets when they stepped in to try to stop an illegal independence referendum on Oct. 1 after the local Catalan force refused to prevent voting in what has become the worst constitutional crisis in modern Spanish history. Catalonia s secessionist government is intent on resisting Spain s plan to remove it from power, and there are doubts over how a divided and demoralized Mossos d Esquadra, as the Catalan police are called, would respond if ordered to evict President Carles Puigdemont and his autonomous government by force. National police could once again be on the front line. The local police force is riven by distrust between those for and against Catalan independence and is estranged from Spain s national police forces, according to interviews with Mossos officers and national police. The Civil Guard gave evidence against the Mossos chief in a sedition inquiry after his force stood back and allowed voting to take place, court documents show. Five Mossos officers, speaking on condition of anonymity, said they believed the 17,000-strong force was split among those who wanted independence and those who opposed it, with three of those saying they would not use force to remove ministers and lawmakers from power. I m not going to use force and beat people with my baton if they are passive, said a 15-year Mossos veteran and secessionist, who declined to be named. He said many others felt the same, but added: I would have to obey it. My family has to eat. A Mossos spokeswoman said the force was neutral and not subject to any political or ideological criteria . Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy is intent on thwarting the latest bid for independence by Catalonia, which has 16 percent of the Spanish population but generates 19 percent of the country s economic output, to avoid what he believes will bring economic and social turmoil to the heart of the eurozone. Officers told Reuters there was also an anti-independence faction in the Mossos d Esquadra, Lads Squad in Catalan, which uses an encrypted chat app to share views on independence versus allegiance to Madrid. In a bid to impose its authority the Madrid government will replace the Mossos senior leadership, but the question is whether this will be enough to ensure the force s loyalty. The Mossos stance will have a powerful influence on the 7.5 million Catalans as the force has deep roots in Catalan society, having emerged from citizen militias in the 18th century. The Mossos s reputation was enhanced by its handling of an August van attack in Barcelona which killed 14 people. Rajoy will seek Senate approval on Friday to take the unprecedented step of assuming central control of Catalonia, including its government and the running of Mossos. The strategy will replace the Mossos leadership, including its two senior officers and 23 commissioners, and route the chain of command to a national police commander, yet to be appointed, who will report to the interior ministry, officials in Madrid and a Catalan police union said. Spain s foreign minister, Alfonso Dastis, said at the weekend, before calls for civil disobedience by the Catalan government, that we are not going to arrest anyone . But a senior government source said force may be necessary depending on the reaction in Catalonia. If the parliament has to be emptied out and closed, if the councillors offices have to be cleared out - if they obey there s no problem, but if they don t obey it will have to be enforced, the source said. The months-long standoff between Madrid and pro-independence leaders progressively damaged morale inside Mossos, with hundreds of officers opposed to independence looking to quit the force, officers and union officials say. Some complain they are sidelined by their pro-independence colleagues. Luis Miguel Lorente, head of the national ARP police union, said about 200 Mossos officers had contacted his union for information on how to join national police forces. Spain has sent about 4,000 police reinforcements to Catalonia, where protests on both sides of the independence debate have drawn hundreds of thousands of people onto the streets. Extra police have been billeted in two cruise ships in Barcelona harbor. One of the ships is painted with cartoon characters of Tweety Pie and Sylvester the Cat, leading to Tweety Pie being adopted as the mascot of the independence movement by some campaigners. Participants in the referendum opted overwhelmingly for independence, but turnout was only about 43 percent as Catalans who favor remaining part of Spain mainly boycotted the ballot. Secessionists said the result gave them a mandate for statehood. Spain was only restored to democracy following the death in 1975 of dictator Francisco Franco, under whom the Catalan language and traditions were suppressed. Protests have been peaceful, but the referendum showed how tensions can swiftly escalate when Madrid uses national police, despised by many secessionists, to enforce anti-independence measures. If Mossos stands back again, the senior government source said, national police would step in once more. A defiant Catalan government, which remains in power until the Senate approves Rajoy s plan, said this week its civil servants, including the Mossos, would continue to obey its instructions and those of its legislature. That raises fears that Puigdemont and regional lawmakers, will refuse to leave their offices, or that their supporters may try to help by occupying the offices. As well as replacing Mossos leaders, Madrid may also redeploy Mossos officers away from key government buildings and use national police instead, an interior ministry official said. Relations between the regional and the national forces are at rock bottom and no new joint investigations are being launched, say officers from each force. | 1 |
1,737 | Trump’s ‘Grab Them By The P***y’ Nature Reappeared During Meeting With Japanese Prime Minister | Trump s disgusting brand of misogyny was laid bare for all to see during the election cycle and it should have sunk him, because he literally bragged about sexually assaulting women by kissing them without waiting, and also saying women would let him grab them by the pussy, because he was famous. If you thought that his being elected would have toned that down, you thought wrong. And he doesn t seem to care who s around when he gets lewd and disgusting like that.Last month, Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe met with Trump at his Mar-a-Lago resort in Florida. These kinds of meetings often require translators, and in this case, the translator was a woman. And Trump couldn t stop thinking about her. From Vanity Fair: [V]intage Trump is not going anywhere anytime soon. A couple of weeks earlier, during a visit by the Japanese prime minister, Shinz Abe, the president told an acquaintance that he was obsessed with the translator s breasts although he expressed this in his own, fragrant fashion. Seriously, he said, practically right in front of another world leader, that he was obsessed with a woman s breasts. Was his mind even on the meeting or was he just staring at her breasts the whole time?Those comments, which Trump and his loyal subjects dismissed as mere locker room talk, led to men assaulting women on subways and sidewalks, literally yelling, Grab her by the pussy! Trump normalized objectifying and assaulting women because hey, if he can do it, then why can t everyone?And he s still at it! Now the question is, how often does this happen while he s meeting with diplomats and world leaders? What about the foreign press? Does he do this all the time, and nobody says anything? He s not just a joke, he s a vile, disgusting pig of a joke.Featured image by Chip Somodevilla via Getty Images | 0 |
1,738 | Disparate crises distract from Obama bid to sign off on Asia shift | ABOARD AIR FORCE ONE (Reuters) - Barack Obama starts his last trip to Asia on Saturday as U.S. president, aiming to put a final stamp on his signature policy shift toward the Pacific but distracted by crises ranging from Brexit to the battle against Islamic State. With the clock ticking down on his presidency, Obama will attend a G20 summit in China, a visit that will underscore the challenges he has faced with a rising world power that is both an economic partner and strategic rival. His final meetings in the region with Chinese President Xi Jinping could set the tone for his White House successor, who will be elected in November and take office in January. Obama will seek to highlight his legacy of stronger ties with Southeast Asia, particularly during the first-ever U.S. presidential visit to Laos, and his success in elevating the issue of climate change on the world stage. But there will be few bright spots in talks with fellow world leaders, who are grappling with the sagging global economy, fallout from Britain’s vote to leave the European Union, increasing suspicion of globalization, the fight against Islamic State militants and territorial disputes in East Asia. During his past nine trips to Asia, Obama has sometimes been distracted by other international developments from the emphasis he sought to place on boosting U.S. military and economic ties to the fast-growing region, leading critics to doubt whether the U.S. commitment will last. The latest visit coincides with the race to succeed Obama in the Nov. 8 presidential election, where Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton, his former secretary of state and co-architect of his Asia strategy, has opposed his Trans-Pacific Partnership trade deal, raising concerns among the 12 nations in the pact. Republican nominee Donald Trump has alarmed allies like Japan and South Korea by suggesting they should pay more for their security and even develop their own nuclear weapons to protect against the threat posed by North Korea. Derek Chollet, a former defense adviser to Obama, said one of the challenges the United States faces is reassuring governments in Asia that the United States means what it says when it comes to rebalancing towards the region. “Asia partners are suspicious that even if we really mean it, that we’re easily sidetracked,” said Chollet, author of “The Long Game,” a book about Obama’s foreign policy. LOW EXPECTATIONS FOR OBAMA-XI TALKS Obama will start his visit on Saturday with China’s Xi. The leaders have forged cooperation on combating climate change and curbing Iran’s nuclear drive but have failed to narrow their countries’ main differences. Irritants include U.S. accusations of Chinese cyber hacking, disputes over trade and Beijing’s pursuit of contested claims in the South China Sea. Michael Green, a top Asia adviser to former Republican President George W. Bush, said he did not expect the Obama-Xi meeting to yield much. “No grand joint declaration as we saw early in the administration, no celebration - perhaps some agreements on climate change - but a pretty rough and scratchy relationship,” Green said. Obama faces another tricky meeting when he holds talks with NATO ally Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan, with relations strained over strategy on Syria’s civil war and concerns about Erdogan’s crackdown on opponents after July’s failed coup. White House aides have left open the prospect of an informal encounter with Russian President Vladimir Putin, which whom Obama is sharply at odds over Syria and Ukraine. China will closely watch Obama’s first meeting with brash new Philippines President Rodrigo Duterte, slated for Tuesday at an East Asia summit in Laos. In July, the Philippines, with U.S. backing, won a challenge against China’s South China Sea claims at an international arbitration court. Despite the longtime U.S.-Philippines alliance, Duterte recently insulted the U.S. ambassador, calling him a “gay son of a whore.” Evan Medeiros, Obama’s former top Asia adviser, said such comments plus Duterte’s skepticism about the U.S. relationship meant that trust needed to be rebuilt. The White House has said Obama will not pull his punches over human rights concerns, which include thousands of extra-judicial killings since Duterte took office two months ago, according to date released this week. Strains with Duterte could add to Obama’s difficulties in forging a united front on the South China Sea with Southeast Asian partners. China may see an opportunity to “drive a wedge” between the United States and Philippines as Beijing seeks a bilateral arrangement with Manila over the South China Sea, Medeiros said. Western diplomats in Beijing, however, said the Chinese government had its own difficulties reading Duterte. “He seems to change his mind every 24 hours,” said one senior Western envoy, referring to Duterte’s China policy. | 1 |
1,739 | U.S. asks China to cut off oil supply to North Korea | UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) - The United States has asked China to cut off oil supply to North Korea, U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Nikki Haley said on Wednesday, warning that if war comes, make no mistake, the North Korean regime will be utterly destroyed. We have never sought war with North Korea, and still today we do not seek it. If war does come, it will be because of continued acts of aggression like we witnessed yesterday, Haley told the U.N. Security Council, referring to Pyongyang s ballistic missile launch on Tuesday. | 1 |
1,740 | SARAH PALIN’S SON BREAKS Into Family Home…Savagely Beats Dad…Leaves Him Covered In Blood | The eldest son of ex-Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin beat the daylights out of his own father after he broke into his parents home in a drunken rage, according to documents released by local police.Track Palin, 28, was busted Saturday and charged with first-degree burglary, fourth-degree assault and criminal mischief, and remains in custody.A court document said that the younger Palin wanted to visit the home to retrieve a truck.But his father, Todd Palin, told him to stay away because Track Palin was drunk and on pain medication, according to a police affidavit and charging documents obtained by the Los Angeles Times. Track told him he was [going to] come anyway to beat his ass, according to an affidavit filed by Wasilla Police Officer Adam LaPointe.Todd Palin answered the door armed with a pistol when his son arrived, but Track broke a window to get into the house and then started savagely beating him, cops said.The younger Palin threw his dad to the ground and hit him repeatedly on the head, leaving him covered in blood and with a liquid oozing from his ear, the documents said.Sarah Palin, the 2008 Republican vice presidential nominee, called police at 8:30 p.m. and said her son was freaking out and was on some type of medication. When cops arrived, they saw the parents fleeing the house in separate vehicles, Todd Palin with blood running down his face and Sarah Palin looking visibly upset, the paper reported.Police confronted Track Palin, who called them peasants, and told them to lay down their weapons, according to the documents. Eventually, Palin left the house and was handcuffed.He told cops that had told his father to shoot him several times, according to the documents. NYP | 0 |
1,741 | Russia attacked energy, telecom and media in Britain: government official | (Reuters) - Russian cyber operatives have attacked Britain s media, telecommunications and energy sectors over the past year, according to prepared remarks by the head of the government s main cyber defense agency. Ciaran Martin, chief executive of the National Cyber Security Centre (NCSC), declined to provide any details on the attacks in a speech scheduled for Wednesday in London. The remarks follow comments on Monday from Prime Minister Theresa May in which she accused Russia of spreading disinformation and meddling in elections, echoing a heated debate in the United States over alleged Russian interference in the 2016 presidential election. Russian has strongly denied any election interference in the United States. The Russian embassy in Washington did not immediately respond when asked after normal business hours for comment on Martin s remarks. The NCSC, a branch of the GCHQ, Britain s main signals intelligence agency, has been in operation for a year and is charged with shoring up cyber security by working with a wide range of stakeholders. Martin said in his prepared remarks: I can confirm that Russian interference, seen by the National Cyber Security Centre over the past the year, has included attacks on the UK media, telecommunication and energy sectors. The agency was actively engaging with international partners, industry and civil society to tackle the threat from Russia, he said. Martin echoed May s comments that Russia was trying to undermine the international system with information warfare and cyber attacks. Cyber security experts have long worried about attacks on electrical grids in particular, but Martin offered no evidence that the alleged Russian attacks succeeded in penetrating power systems or other critical infrastructure in the UK. ( This story has been refiled to fix transposed letters in acronym in 5th paragraph) | 1 |
1,742 | Factbox: Trump on Twitter (Oct 23) - 401(k), NFL, Sgt. La David Johnson | The following statements were posted to the verified Twitter accounts of U.S. President Donald Trump, @realDonaldTrump and @POTUS. The opinions expressed are his own. Reuters has not edited the statements or confirmed their accuracy. @realDonaldTrump : - There will be NO change to your 401(k). This has always been a great and popular middle class tax break that works, and it stays! [0742 EDT] - Two dozen NFL players continue to kneel during the National Anthem, showing total disrespect to our Flag & Country. No leadership in NFL! [0753 EDT] - I had a very respectful conversation with the widow of Sgt. La David Johnson, and spoke his name from beginning, without hesitation! [0830 EDT] -- Source link: (bit.ly/2jBh4LU) (bit.ly/2jpEXYR) | 1 |
1,743 | China unveils new leadership line-up with no clear successor to Xi | BEIJING (Reuters) - China s ruling Communist Party broke with recent precedent on Wednesday, unveiling a new leadership line-up without a clear successor to President Xi Jinping, who has become arguably the most powerful Chinese leader since Mao Zedong. Xi led his team in order of rank on to a stage at Beijing s Great Hall of the People, overlooking Tiananmen Square, culminating a week-long party conclave at which he laid out his vision for an increasingly prosperous China confident of its place on the world stage. Apart from Xi, Premier Li Keqiang was the only one to retain his spot amid sweeping changes on the Politburo Standing Committee. There has been persistent speculation Xi could seek to stay on in some capacity beyond the end of his customary second five years in power, which began on Wednesday. All seven Standing Committee members are men in their 60s and, for the first time, none was born before China s 1949 Communist revolution. The make-up of the committee, which has ultimate control over the world s second-largest economy, appeared to be a compromise to include a blend of Xi allies and those considered loyal to party elders, including Jiang Zemin and Hu Jintao, former presidents whose networks still wield influence. Cheng Li, an expert on Chinese politics at the Brookings Institution, said Xi appeared to have traded securing favorable amendments to the constitution in exchange for a compromise on the make-up of the Standing Committee, a line-up he likened to a team of rivals . The member considered closest to Xi is Li Zhanshu, who has often accompanied Xi on overseas trips in a chief-of-staff-style role as the head the party s General Office. Li, who is not related to the premier, was named the third-ranked member, meaning he will most likely assume the role of head of the largely rubber-stamp parliament. That will not be confirmed until parliament meets in March. Xi had already strengthened his hand considerably ahead of the announcement, with his political theory and Belt and Road infrastructure-led development strategy put into the party constitution. He was named the party s core last year. Guangdong party secretary Hu Chunhua and Chongqing party boss Chen Miner had been previously seen as prominent contenders to succeed Xi among the party s so-called sixth generation of leaders but were not included in the Standing Committee. Instead, both were named to the wider 25-member Politburo, a rung below the Standing Committee. He s consolidated his power without making unnecessary problems for himself, said David Zweig, a professor at Hong Kong University of Science and Technology. The costs of keeping Wang Qishan or getting Chen Miner were too high. He didn t need to do it. Wang, who led Xi s sweeping anti-graft campaign and was considered China s second most-powerful politician, is above retirement age; Chen was comparatively junior. While the Standing Committee bears the hallmarks of compromise, the new Politburo is stacked with more than a dozen Xi allies, including Chen, Beijing party boss Cai Qi, economic adviser Liu He and Ding Xuexiang, who is expected to become Xi s chief of staff as director of the party s General Office. Xi has managed to put a lot of his own people there, as much as possible, said Bo Zhiyue, a New Zealand-based expert on Chinese politics. Most of Xi s close associates are too junior to be put into the Politburo Standing Committee right away. Blanket state media coverage made no mention of factional politics or alliances, while an editorial on the official People s Daily s WeChat account hailed the new seven-man line-up as a dream team to lead China into its new era . Xi, who has sought to revitalize the Communist Party s role across Chinese society, made no mention of who his successor might be as he introduced his new Standing Committee at a media event broadcast live around the country. His remarks were translated consecutively into English. Xi did not take questions, but said the party had weathered trials and tribulations. We will also work with other nations to build a global community with a shared future, and make new and greater contributions to the noble cause of peace and development for all humanity, he said. Xi and Li were first promoted to the Standing Committee at the 17th Party Congress in 2007, in a clear signal that the pair would succeed Hu Jintao and Wen Jiabao and occupy the top two offices - which they did five years later. Zhao Leji, who headed the party s Organisation Department, which oversees personnel decisions, replaced Wang Qishan as chief of the Central Commission for Discipline Inspection. | 1 |
1,744 | Big financial woes linger in Illinois' new budget | CHICAGO (Reuters) - Illinois’ first budget after two years is filled with partial outlines to address its debt-ridden pension system and unpaid bill backlog — signs that political fighting and the fiscal mess in the nation’s fifth-largest state are far from over. At least 15 House and Senate Republicans broke with first-term Republican Governor Bruce Rauner on Thursday and joined with Democrats to override Rauner’s vetoes of the state’s first budget package in more than two years. The $36 billion spending plan relies on a $5 billion tax increase that permanently hikes the flat personal income tax rate to 4.95 percent, up 32 percent from its prior 3.75 percent rate. To address the state’s nearly $15 billion in unpaid bills, Illinois depends heavily on borrowing. Lawmakers approved $6 billion of 12-year bonds to raise money for repayments. But State Representative Greg Harris, the House Democrats’ point person on the budget, has acknowledged there is only enough revenue to support half of that borrowing amount. Illinois will also borrow up to $1.2 billion from various state accounts that have accumulated cash for specific purposes, while “sweeping” cash from other accounts —a government version of looking under couch cushions that is expected to yield $300 million. Illinois’ $130 billion pension liability is one of the largest in the nation, and the new budget takes only small steps to address the structural underfunding of Illinois’ five retirement systems. The new law gives the state five years to phase in changes retroactive to fiscal 2014 in actuarial or investment return assumptions made by the pension systems for an estimated savings of $892.1 million. Seemingly small changes in projected investment results can have significant impact on a pension fund’s actuarial calculations. Last year, when the Illinois Teachers’ Retirement System reduced its earnings assumption to 7 percent from 7.5 percent, the change caused a $660 million spike in the state’s fiscal 2018 contribution. The new budget attributes $500 million in savings to the creation of a new tier of pension beneficiaries. But that tier applies largely to newly hired employees, raising questions about how the state expects to book that savings in the current fiscal year. That estimate was lifted straight from the proposed budget presented by Rauner earlier this year. The projection has not been independently verified by legislative leaders, and Rauner’s office has not responded to requests for an explanation of how the estimate was calculated. The Illinois Education Association, one of the state’s largest unions, said it has no evidence that its pensioners would be harmed by the new budget’s pension provisions. But the union questioned why lawmakers approved structural changes to pensions without an independent financial analysis. “It’s a little bit of a shot in the dark. For something this major, you’d think the legislators who are voting on this would want to know this information,” said Jim Reed, the union’s government relations director. A budget was welcomed as a positive step for Illinois, which still faces fiscal and pension crises. “The pension pressures will continue, and Illinois’ financial challenges will continue, but at least there will be a framework to recognize there’s a limit to the liability growth to this state,” said Laurence Msall, president of the Civic Federation, a budget watchdog group. Steve Malanga, a senior fellow at the Manhattan Institute think tank, said the fixes in the new budget do not match up to the challenges faced by Illinois. “This is the kind of budget you would pass if you were a state that hit a bump in the road and had a deficit you needed to get rid of over the next two or three years,” he said. “It’s not the kind of budget you’d pass if you have $14 billion in unpaid bills and a $130 billion unfunded (pension) liability.” The Democrats and Republicans who voted for the budget did so at least in part to prevent Illinois from becoming the first U.S. state in history to see its credit rating fall to “junk” status. Moody’s on Wednesday put Illinois on review for a possible downgrade, but some of the state’s bonds traded higher on Friday, an apparent sign of optimism about the budget. | 1 |
1,745 | Text of Michael Flynn's letter resigning as national security adviser | WASHINGTON (Reuters) - National security adviser Michael Flynn became the first high-profile member of President Donald Trump’s administration to resign, leaving the job late on Monday amid controversy over discussions he had with a Russian diplomat before Trump took office about U.S. sanctions on Russia. Following is the text of his resignation letter, which was released by the White House. In the course of my duties as the incoming National Security Advisor, I held numerous phone calls with foreign counterparts, ministers, and ambassadors. These calls were to facilitate a smooth transition and begin to build the necessary relationships between the President, his advisors and foreign leaders. Such calls are standard practice in any transition of this magnitude. Unfortunately, because of the fast pace of events, I inadvertently briefed the Vice President Elect and others with incomplete information regarding my phone calls with the Russian Ambassador. I have sincerely apologized to the President and the Vice President, and they have accepted my apology. Throughout my over thirty three years of honorable military service, and my tenure as the National Security Advisor, I have always performed my duties with the utmost of integrity and honesty to those I have served, to include the President of the United States. I am tendering my resignation, honored to have served our nation and the American people in such a distinguished way. I am also extremely honored to have served President Trump, who in just three weeks, has reoriented American foreign policy in fundamental ways to restore America’s leadership position in the world. As I step away once again from serving my nation in this current capacity, I wish to thank President Trump for his personal loyalty, the friendship of those who I worked with throughout the hard fought campaign, the challenging period of transition, and during the early days of his presidency. I know with the strong leadership of President Donald J. Trump and Vice President Mike Pence and the superb team they are assembling, this team will go down in history as one of the greatest presidencies in U.S. history, and I firmly believe the American people will be well served as they all work together to help Make America Great Again. Michael T. Flynn, LTG (Ret) Assistant to the President / National Security Advisor | 1 |
1,746 | U.S. presidential election drives record ratings for cable news | (Reuters) - The 2016 election cycle had been a ratings boon for U.S. cable news networks, and Tuesday’s stunning U.S. presidential election victory by Republican Donald Trump was no different. Time Warner Inc’s CNN led all U.S. TV networks in primetime coverage with 13.3 million viewers, the most-watched Election Night coverage in U.S. cable news history, according to Nielsen data. 21st Century Fox’s Fox News came in second with 12.1 million viewers, and Comcast Corp’s MSNBC was far behind with just under 6 million. Among adults aged 25 to 54, the demographic most important to advertisers who buy time on news programs, CNN was first as well with 6.7 million viewers. Fox News was second with 4.6 million and MSNBC drew 2.4 million in the demographic. All three posted gains from four years ago. With many states too close to call, the race was not called for Trump until around 3 a.m. (0800 GMT) on the East Coast. Fox News led cable news with 9.8 million viewers watching between 2 a.m. and 3 a.m. (0700 and 0800 GMT), with CNN bringing in 6.5 million and 2.9 million watching on MSNBC. Fox News also led all cable networks with their full coverage from 7 p.m. to 3 a.m. (0000 to 0800), with 12.2 million, a network high for an election night. CNN pulled in 11.2 million for the whole night, but topped Fox News in the news demographic with 5.6 million to Fox News’ 4.8 million. MSNBC brought up the rear with 5.2 million and 2.1 million in the demographic. NBC led all the broadcast networks with 11.2 million viewers, with ABC finishing with 9.2 million and CBS pulling in 8.1 million. Fox averaged around 4 million for its two-hour coverage from 8-10 p.m. Across 13 U.S. TV networks, election night coverage was watched by 71.42 million viewers, just behind the U.S. record of 71.47 million that watched in 2008. | 1 |
1,747 | Trump administration crafting big new arms sales to Taiwan: sources | WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The Trump administration is crafting a big new arms package for Taiwan that could include advanced rocket systems and anti-ship missiles to defend against China, U.S. officials said, a deal sure to anger Beijing. The package is expected to be significantly larger than one that was shelved at the end of the Obama administration, the officials told Reuters on the eve of a visit to Beijing by U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson. “The political desire is there to do a substantial sale,” one administration official said, adding that internal deliberations had begun on a deal “that’s much stronger, much more significant than the one that was not accepted by the Obama people.” President Donald Trump’s administration is eager to proceed with the sales, but it is expected to take months and possibly into next year for the White House to overcome obstacles, including concern that Beijing’s sensitivities over Taiwan could make it harder to secure cooperation on priorities such as reining in North Korea, the official said. Completion of a package also could be held up by the slow pace at which the Trump administration is filling national security jobs, the officials said, speaking on condition of anonymity because initial work toward new arms sales has not been made public. Discussions between Taiwan and the new administration already have begun, according to a person in Taipei familiar with the matter. The White House declined comment. Details of the administration’s approach to Taiwan emerged as Tillerson was due to visit China this weekend, where he will seek more Chinese support on North Korea and firm up a first meeting between Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping expected next month. In December, President Barack Obama’s administration put the brakes on a Taiwan deal under discussion. That package was worth $1 billion, Washington’s Free Beacon newspaper reported this week, citing unnamed officials, who also were quoted as saying the Trump administration was now preparing new sales. Ned Price, a National Security Council spokesman under Obama, said the previous administration put a “relatively modest” arms package for Taiwan on hold, in part to let the new administration make the decision. The Trump administration source told Reuters that the new deals under consideration would likely top the $1 billion mark. The new administration plans to focus more than the previous one on enhancing Taiwan’s “asymmetric” capabilities, possibly with advanced multiple launch rocket systems, anti-ship missiles and other technologies that would enable Taiwan’s military to defend against a much larger Chinese force in the event of an attack, the U.S. official said. Lockheed Martin Corp (LMT.N) is the top U.S. manufacturer of multiple launch rocket systems. Other foreign companies involved in the sector include Germany’s Diehl and Britain’s BAE Systems (BAES.L). A $1.83 billion arms sale to Taiwan that Obama announced in December 2015, to China’s dismay, included two Navy frigates in addition to anti-tank missiles and amphibious attack vehicles. The United States switched diplomatic recognition from Taiwan to China in 1979, acknowledging Taiwan as part of “one China.” But successive administrations have continued providing billions of dollars in arms as part of a congressionally mandated requirement to ensure the island can defend itself. Taiwan has already been a major point of contention between Trump and China, which considers the island a renegade province. As president-elect, Trump broke with protocol and accepted a congratulatory phone call from the Taiwanese President Tsai Ing-wen in December, angering China. He then suggested he might abandon Washington’s “one China” policy, which accepts the self-ruled island as part of China. Once in office, Trump reaffirmed the U.S. commitment to the decades-old policy. The White House is mindful that tensions could flare again over new arms sales. But some Trump aides insist they are needed to make clear that the United States, Taiwan’s sole arms supplier, is committed to upgrading the island’s defenses. | 1 |
1,748 | Syrian army fights IS in Deir al-Zor as U.S.-backed forces loom | DEIR AL-ZOR, Syria (Reuters) - The Syrian army field commander standing by the Euphrates River predicted that Islamic State militants would very soon be purged from its opposite bank. Their fate is hell and the Syrian army pursues its operations step by step until the total liberation of the city, he told Reuters Television during a tour of areas of Deir al-Zor in Syria s east recently retaken by the military and its allies. Islamic State s last major stronghold, the cities, towns and farms in the fertile strip along the Euphrates are fast becoming the focus of Syria s war and a potential flashpoint for wider geopolitical tensions. The Syrian army, supported by Russia and Iran-backed Shi ite Muslim militias, reached its besieged garrison in Deir al-Zor this month after a long desert campaign and is now fighting to recapture the city and its environs. It has also crossed the Euphrates, establishing a bridgehead opposite Deir al-Zor on the east bank, where Kurdish and Arab militias backed by a U.S.-led coalition are waging a rival campaign against Islamic State. The risk of open conflict between the two offensives has mostly been avoided despite their proximity in campaigns further upstream in recent months, thanks to U.S.-Russian dialogue. But new moments of friction have shown how the danger is rising as the fight against Islamic State nears its climax and both offensives race to secure ground in the oil-rich region. The U.S.-led coalition this week accused Russia of targeting the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) alliance it backs, and Russia on Thursday accused the SDF of twice shelling the Syrian army, adding it would retaliate in future. The field commander standing on the Euphrates riverbank did not address those issues, but he told Reuters the army would capture the villages opposite where he stood in al-Bughilia, an area close to where the SDF is operating. Soon, the forces will be deployed toward al-Safira and al-Huseiniya and they will be purged of Daesh, he said, using an Arabic acronym for Islamic State. Syrian state news agency SANA reported on Thursday that the army had expanded its area of control on the east bank of the Euphrates and a military media unit run by the army s ally Hezbollah said they had gained control of another village there. Above the Euphrates at Deir al-Zor, Reuters photographs showed soldiers and journalists peering over a wall to take pictures of a river along which the Syrian army has only recently gained stretches of land after an absence of years. On the other side of the pale water was flat farmland held by Islamic State. The army suddenly ordered reporters to leave the riverbank when soldiers noticed plumes of dust on the other side that might signal approaching militants. A little way downstream, there was fighting on Sakr island, opposite Deir al-Zor s southern quarters, and the al-Mayadin television channel showed live images of farmland where clashes were taking place, smoke rising among the trees. In recaptured areas of the city, Reuters photographs showed signs of Islamic State s recent presence. Its slogans were written on shopfronts. An armored vehicle, marked Army of the Caliphate , stood damaged. Daesh presents a fierce resistance and uses car bombs and heavy and medium weapons, the field commander said. There is a decision from the political leadership and the military command in the army to battle and hunt Daesh, and end their presence in Deir al-Zor and beyond. When the morning Islamic prayer broke across the city, it was at times drowned out by the sound of warplanes flying above. On the desert road back from Deir al-Zor to government-held areas in the west, a stream of military convoys was passing, according to the Reuters journalists. With war coming to the east bank of the Euphrates, the convoys were carrying amphibious armored vehicles, bridge parts and boats. | 1 |
1,749 | The Eighth Person In Trump Tower Meeting Is Linked To Money Laundering | The story of Donald Trump Jr. s 2016 meeting with a Russian lawyer capable of providing damning information against his father s then presidential campaign running mate, Hillary Clinton, appears to be an ever changing one. News broke last week that there was an eighth person involved, Irakly Kaveladze, whose presence was confirmed by a lawyer for Aras Agalarov.The meeting is a story that is a little hard to keep track of so let s do a role call of the other seven attendees first The meeting was arranged by Donald Trump Jr. as the main representative for his father with Natalia Veselnitskaya, the Russian lawyer with the dirt on Hillary. Also present was President Trump s son-in-law, Jared Kushner, and then-chair of the Trump campaign, Paul Manafort, both of whom were there at the request of Trump Jr, seemingly to make the meeting appear more serious. Then there was Rob Goldstone, a British publicist who contacted the Trumps on behalf of the Agalarovs, the Russian Oligarchs with ties to Vladimir Putin and a Trump family friend, who set up the session in the first place. Also present was Rinat Akhmetshin, a Russian-American lobbyist who, by his own admission, worked as a military counterintelligence officer for the former Soviet Union and had also bragged about how easily he could coordinate an email hacking campaign, and Anatoli Samochornov, a former State Department staffer who was there solely to translate.Which brings us to Irakly Kaveladze, a 52-year-old born in the Soviet Republic of Georgia who immigrated to the US in 1991. Also known as Ike, Kaveladze was the eighth person present during the meeting and this is where things get truly interesting, as Kaveladze was once the main focal point of a congressional money-laundering probe. On his personal website, Kaveladze refers to himself as the vice president of Agalarov s Moscow-based real estate company, Crocus Group. His LinkedIn profile has him living in the Russian Federation, however, public records show he is linked to New Jersey-based businesses.Kaveladze is listed in business filings as founder of the IBC Group, based at 333 Sylvan Ave. in Englewood Cliffs, in a completely empty suite with unopened mail by the door. That exact New Jersey address is also shared with several shell companies connected to Aras Agalarov, one of which is Saffron Property Management, which Agalarov reportedly used to purchase an $11 million condominium last year in Florida. The other companies that share the Sylvan Ave. address include CI Publishing, PB Consulting, Russian Art Mall and a company called RJI Properties, run by two childhood friends of Agalarov s son, Emin. For some strange reason, RJI s Instagram account links to Emin s sister s real estate profile.Another thing his own webpage and LinkedIn profile both fail to mention is Kaveladze s alleged role in laundering $1.4 billion during the mid-1990s. In November, 2000, Kaveladze was named in news stories after a report on Russian money laundering through U.S. financial institutions was issued by the General Accounting Office. According to the congressional inquiry, Kaveladze formed 2,000 corporations for Russian brokers through his company which was called International Business Creations at the time. These corporations were then used to help steer more than $1.4 billion in wire transactions through U.S. banks.The story of Donald Trump Jr. s meeting with Russian lawyers may have been compelling when the story first broke, but this is only the beginning.Featured image via Spencer Platt/Getty Images | 0 |
1,750 | Long Lost Footage Of Bernie Being Arrested At Civil Rights Protest In 1963 Silences His Critics (VIDEO) | A team of documentary filmmakers made what may be a discovery of intense historical importance while working on a project looking at Chicago school protests through the decades. In extremely rare footage, they think they found a previously unknown recording of a very young Bernie Sanders getting roughly arrested while he staged a protest against school segregation in 1963.It has been public knowledge that Sanders was arrested during his time at the University of Chicago for protesting racism during the Civil Rights Movement. However, for many of his critics, seeing is believing.For reasons that remain baffling, many of Sanders critics both on the right and on the left have spent this election accusing the Democratic presidential candidate of insufficient sincerity when he speaks out against racism and discusses social justice issues. Salon channeled these criticisms in an unevenly cooked thinkpiece on Sanders:Writing recently in Vox, Dara Lind pointed out Sanders near total blindness to black and Latino issues at his campaign s opening, with almost nothing expressly addressing matters of racial justice to be found in speeches and campaign literature. Sanders is a white politician from the whitest state in the union, and his intense focus on economic populism sounds incomplete in the post-Ferguson moment. Sanders only recently infused his stump speech with matters of racial justice, and despite his rapid and surprising success, a recent NBC/WSJ poll found him to be what the New York Times called a virtual unknown among black voters. Sanders will certainly have to do more to gain the much-needed black vote once the campaign leaves the very white Iowa and New Hampshire.But perhaps the reason why so many people seem to believe Sanders has a total blindness to black and Latino issues is because he isn t always talking about them, but actually doing something about them rare for a politician, I know. Being able to see Sanders, a very young man who wasn t trying to pander for votes or win an election, get roughed up by Chicago police officers while fighting for racial justice in his school is a powerful moment. How many other candidates can say the same?It should be noted that 1963 was a pretty scary time for civil rights activists. Protests would routinely end in violence, often at the hands of the police who were tasked with keeping the peace. From the footage above, we can see that the police weren t exactly known for their light touch. Just one year after Sanders arrest, several white activists who traveled to Mississippi to organize voting rights protests were murdered in cold blood. For African-Americans it was even more dangerous. In the Jim Crow South, lynchings and organized terror campaigns by both vigilante groups like the KKK and state-endorsed cops were common. Standing up for what you believed in took an incredible amount of courage.In Chicago, a supposedly liberal city in the North, things were still dominated by racism. At the time, segregated public schools had led to massively overpopulated and run down black schools. Rather than integrate, a racist CPS Superintendent named Benjamin Willis threw many black students into sweltering aluminum trailers and passed those metal boxes off as classrooms. Critics had another name: Willis Wagons. It was among these Willis Wagon farms that Sanders was arrested.If the definition of character is what you do when nobody is watching, then the critics of Sanders legacy of civil rights activism have very little ground to complain. Five decades ago Sanders was just a university student who saw injustice and decided to fight against it.Feature image via Vimeo | 0 |
1,751 | Historian: Trump And His Supporters Should Be Arrested For TREASON If They Refuse To Accept Defeat | As Election Day continues to get closer on the calendar, some conservatives are already threatening to commit acts of violence if Hillary Clinton beats Donald Trump.In fact, conservatives, including Trump, have been laying the groundwork for months now to invalidate the election results in the event Donald Trump loses.The Republican nominee went to Pennsylvania in August and declared that the only way he can possibly lose Pennsylvania is if Hillary Clinton cheats to win the state. Ever since then, Trump s campaign and the Republicans that support him have been claiming that Clinton will somehow steak the election via election fraud, which suggests Trump and his conservative backers will refuse to gracefully accept defeat on Election Day and could go so far as to make threats and commit acts of violence in order to prevent Hillary from taking over as Commander-in-Chief.And such a move by conservatives would not only be unprecedented in the entire history of our nation, it would also be treason.Historian Dr. Ronald Feinman explained in an article published by History News Network that in all of our history, no losing presidential candidate has ever not accepted defeat in the wake of losing an election. There has never been a threat of a losing candidate refusing to accept the victory of his opponent, even in the midst of an oncoming Civil War, or in the midst of the Great Depression, or during the tensions of the Cold War years, Feinman wrote.There is absolutely no excuse or justification for even a perceived possibility that Donald Trump might cause a major threat to civil order by encouraging his supporters to refuse to accept his defeat. Yet, we have some Republicans, including Kentucky Governor Matt Bevin seemingly setting the stage for possible civil disobedience and even violence based on the argument that Bill and Hillary Clinton are totally corrupt, and that no victory by Hillary Clinton would be valid. It is truly terrifying to think of the possible threat to the new President and Vice President by crazed supporters who use Trump s vehement opposition and potential rejection of the results as an excuse for bloodshed and violence, including a possible threat to the health, safety, and lives of Hillary Clinton and Tim Kaine.During the Values Voter Summit last month, Bevin called for bloody rebellion if Hillary Clinton wins in November. Somebody asked me yesterday, I did an interview and they said, Do you think it s possible, if Hillary Clinton were to win the election, do you think it s possible that we ll be able to survive? That we would ever be able to recover as a nation? And while there are people who have stood on this stage and said we would not, I would beg to differ. But I will tell you this: I do think it would be possible, but at what price? At what price? The roots of the tree of liberty are watered by what? The blood, of who? The tyrants to be sure, but who else? The patriots. Whose blood will be shed? It may be that of those in this room. It might be that of our children and grandchildren. I have nine children. It breaks my heart to think that it might be their blood that is needed to redeem something, to reclaim something, that we through our apathy and our indifference have given away. Donald Trump has also suggested that Second Amendment people could do something to stop Hillary Clinton.This suggests that Trump and conservatives are planning to contest any election result that is not in their favor and are planning to cause chaos and commit violence if they don t get their way. This should be seen as a treasonable act, were it to occur, requiring the arrest, trial and incarceration of any Trump supporters, including the candidate himself, who represent a threat to constitutional order and American democracy, Feinman continued. Donald Trump would go down in history ever worse than his reputation has already been sullied by his actions and statements promoting division and chaos in America, and undermining its ability to protect national security. Being a sore loser who advocates or endorses violence and bloodshed would put him into a class with people such as Benedict Arnold and Aaron Burr as traitors to the nation. Indeed, Trump and conservatives would be undermining our democracy and our tradition of peaceful transfers of political power which is why Americans must defeat Donald Trump by a landslide on November 8th in order to send a clear message to Trump and conservatives that their agenda is rejected and their behavior is totally unacceptable.Featured Image: Flickr | 0 |
1,752 | if trump loses im grabbing my musket former congressman ready to go full revolution | portland ore koin the last person to surrender in the malheur national wildlife refuge takeover was released from prison hours after being acquitted on federal conspiracy charges thursday afternoon
david fry was found not guilty of conspiring to impede workers from doing their jobs at the refuge through threats intimidation or force he was also acquitted of a firearms charge
the ohio resident spoke to koin news before stepping onto the streets of downtown portland for the first time in months
fry said he was excited to reunite with family and friends to celebrate the victory adding that his plight to end corruption is far from overits a wonderful feeling to be acquitted by the highest authority in this country fry said i definitely feel this was divine intervention playing in this
weve all got to work together and start making some changes because our governments worldwide arent for the people he said theyve become the opposite
he said guards at multnomah county jail treated him as if he were guilty and that inmates are not often dealt with fairly or under the presumption of innocence
i guess this is the greatest example of why you dont treat people as guilty because they can be acquitted fry said
fry was one of the last holdouts at the refuge and helped broadcast the final days of the standoff through youtube livestreams he allegedly threatened to commit suicide while on the phone with fbi crisis negotiators before he surrendered
defense attorneys called his father william fry to the witness stand to discuss his motives for joining the occupation william said his son was frustrated with corruption and wanted to support dwight and steve hammond who he believed were falsely characterized as terrorists
fry wanted to bring his computer equipment to malheur his father said to broadcast what was going on and help people around the world understand the issue at hand | 0 |
1,753 | The Final Control: TPP, TTIP, TISA Global Corporate Takeover | 21st Century Wire says This is a new geopolitical war, taking place between the United States and China.The rise of the so-called BRICS countries Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa, along with countless other emerging economies, means that global power relations are gradually tipping away from the Anglo-American Axis, and towards Eurasia.The Anglo-American corporate confab will not allow this tectonic shift threaten their interests. Collectively, what the TPP, TTIP and TISA really are is a new global governance super structure that overrides individual sovereign nations and their laws, and even the rights of their individual citizens.Under this new secretive regime, all are subservient to the transnational corporate hive WATCH: WikiLeaks The US strategy to create a new global legal and economic system: TPP, TTIP, TISA: | 0 |
1,754 | Republican Trump's new finance chair previously donated to Democrats | WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Republican Donald Trump named a national finance chairman for his presidential campaign on Thursday, picking an investor with little experience in campaigns but a long history of political donations, including to Trump’s likely Democratic opponent, Hillary Clinton. Steven Mnuchin, a former partner at Goldman Sachs who now works in entertainment financing, is chairman and CEO of private investment firm Dune Capital Management LP. He is taking one of the first high-profile jobs in the campaign that Trump has filled. Trump, a real estate developer who this week became the presumptive Republican presidential nominee for the November election, worked with Mnuchin in a business capacity before, the campaign said. Since 1998, Mnuchin has given about $71,000 to Democrats and their associated committees, compared to about $37,000 to Republicans. Since Hillary Clinton’s campaign to be elected to the U.S. Senate in 2000, Mnuchin donated $7,400 to Clinton, according to the Federal Election Commission. He also gave $10,000 to the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee in 2004. More recently, Mnuchin donated to Republicans, including $22,500 in 2012 to Mitt Romney’s joint fundraising committee and another $4,800 to the former Republican nominee’s campaign. His history of donations to Democrats may well add to distaste for Trump among some establishment Republicans who have opposed the billionaire’s rise to likely presidential nominee on the grounds his proposals are not truly Republican. Trump said on Wednesday he will begin to raise money for his general election bid after self-funding a majority of his primary campaign. Fundraising will require a balance, especially since much of Trump’s campaign message has rested on his refusal to raise money and his decision to self-fund his campaign during the party nominating contests. Historically, political parties have depended on the ability of their nominee to raise money in order to fund their other operations, including working to elect members of the House and Senate. Trump said he will work closely with the Republican National Committee - which already has a fundraising operation - to help both his own campaign and those of other members of the party for the Nov. 8 election. U.S. Representative Chris Collins of New York, who was the first lawmaker to endorse Trump, said the move to start raising money will help bring the party together. “You’ll see that pivot to the general election, which is uniting the party, and fundraising is a very big part of uniting the party, with the influence money has in elections these days,” Collins told Reuters in an interview. | 1 |
1,755 | Pakistan appoints economist to head finance ministry in run-up to election | Karachi, Pakistan (Reuters) - Pakistan has appointed an economist, who was recently chairman of the board of investment, to take charge of the finance ministry after the former minister was relieved of his duties amid accusations of corruption. Miftah Ismail has been made an adviser to the prime minister for finance, with the status of a federal minister, the government said in a notification. Although I will have stewardship of the Ministry of Finance for only 5 months, the prime minister has tasked me to help him implement a very ambitious agenda, Ismail said in a post on Twitter. He was referring to general election due next year and widely expected in May, though no date has been fixed. The former fiance minister, Ishaq Dar, was relieved of his portfolio on Nov. 22 amid mounting headwinds for the $300 billion economy battling to stave off balance of payments pressures due to dwindling foreign currency reserves and a widening current account deficit. Dar, who was widely credited with navigating Pakistan out of a 2013 balance of payments crisis, is facing corruption charges in connection with accusations he amassed wealth beyond his known sources of income. Dar has denied all charges. He is receiving treatment in London for a heart condition. Ismail is a member of former prime minister Nawaz Sharif s political party, which is still the ruling party even though Sharif was ousted amid corruption allegations in July. Sharif has also denied any wrongdoing. The party has been reluctant to allow the rupee to weaken ahead of elections as it may stoke inflation, though many investors and economists say a weaker rupee is needed to shore up lagging exports. Samiullah Tariq, director of research at Arif Habib Limited, said he expected Ismail would let the rupee soften if he though it necessary. Basically, he s pro-business, if he feels that a stronger rupee is hindering exports, he will let it weaken, Tariq told Reuters. He has plans to introduce tax reforms, rationalize tax rates, create a scheme to release refunds and initiate a scheme to bring back and declare foreign assets owned by Pakistanis, Tariq added. | 1 |
1,756 | Ex-Trump aide Flynn's family creates fund for 'enormous' legal fees | (Reuters) - Relatives of former national security adviser Michael Flynn have set up a fund to help pay for his legal defense against federal and congressional investigations into potential collusion between Donald Trump’s presidential campaign and Russia. The fund was established by Flynn’s brother Joe and sister Barbara Redgate, who said in a statement the “enormous expense” of legal fees had put a “tremendous financial burden on our brother Mike and his family.” They asked supporters of the retired U.S. general, “veterans, and all people of goodwill” to contribute to the fund, which will collect donations from U.S. citizens through a newly created website, according to the statement. Flynn, a central figure in a federal probe led by special counsel Robert Mueller, as well as a focal point of congressional investigations, broke a months-long silence to thank his siblings for their support on Twitter. “Lori and I are very grateful to my brother Joe and sister Barbara for creating a fund to help pay my legal defense costs,” Flynn said in a tweet, referring to his wife Lori. Flynn was fired by Trump as national security adviser after less than a month on the job. The firing came 18 days after a senior Justice Department official warned that Flynn could be blackmailed because Moscow knew he made misleading statements about his contacts with Russian officials. Flynn in August reported income of at least $1.8 million, according to an amended financial disclosure form, which included paid speaking engagements to Russian entities, including the Kremlin-funded RT TV and Volga-Dnepr Airlines and payments for lobbying for the Turkish government. Investigators are looking at whether payments from foreign clients to Flynn and his company, the now-inactive Flynn Intel Group, were lawful, sources have told Reuters. | 1 |
1,757 | Kremlin: no cooperation between Russia and U.S. on North Korea - RIA | MOSCOW (Reuters) - There is no cooperation between Russia and U.S. on North Korea for the time being, the RIA news agency cited Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov as saying on Saturday. There is no cooperation so far. Only periodic exchanges of views, he said. Russian President Vladimir Putin and his U.S. counterpart Donald Trump may meet at an Asian economic summit in Vietnam next week. Peskov said there was a great probability that the two would discuss the situation on the Korean peninsula if such a meeting was held. | 1 |
1,758 | U.S. attorney general closes Clinton email probe, says no charges | WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The investigation into Hillary Clinton’s use of private email while secretary of state is closed, U.S. Attorney General Loretta Lynch said on Wednesday, removing a legal cloud that threatened the presumptive Democratic nominee’s presidential bid. Lynch said she accepted the Federal Bureau of Investigation’s recommendations that no charges be brought in the probe, as Republicans made clear they would not let Clinton’s email headaches fade away easily. “I received and accepted their unanimous recommendation that the thorough, year-long investigation be closed and that no charges be brought against any individuals within the scope of the investigation,” Lynch said in a statement. With the Nov. 8 U.S. presidential and congressional elections beginning to heat up, Republicans called on the administration to make public key documents in the Clinton email case. Donald Trump, the presumptive Republican nominee for president, speaking at a campaign rally in Cincinnati, Ohio, accused Clinton, his likely Democratic opponent, of bribing Lynch to decide not to press charges. He was referring to reports, including in the New York Times this week, that Clinton, if elected president, might ask Lynch to stay on as attorney general. “She said she’s going to reappoint the attorney general and the attorney general is waiting to make a determination as to whether or not she’s guilty. And boy was that a fast determination, wow,” Trump said, adding, “That’s bribery folks.” On Capitol Hill, Representative Steve Scalise, the No. 3 House of Representatives Republican, reacted to Lynch’s announcement by proclaiming: “Secretary Clinton broke the law and lied about it.” Senior Senate Republicans insisted that the FBI’s investigation be made available to the public, including a transcript of the more than three hours Clinton spent last Saturday in an interview conducted by the agency. Shortly before Lynch’s announcement, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell told reporters, “I think the next step...is to compare what Hillary Clinton said to the FBI with what Hillary Clinton’s been saying to all of us over the last couple of years during this controversy.” In a blistering attack on Clinton, John Cornyn of Texas, the second-ranking Senate Republican, said on the Senate floor: “The bottom line is Secretary Clinton actively sought out ways to hide her actions as much as possible” by using a private email account while heading the State Department. “And in so doing, she put our country at risk” by leaving those emails vulnerable to computer hackers. Democrats have questioned Republicans’ motives and accused them of squandering taxpayer dollars with lengthy investigations that have failed to uncover illegal activities. “Republicans are in such desperate shape because of Trump (that) they would seize upon anything” to divert attention, said Senate Democratic leader Harry Reid. And Senator Patrick Leahy, the senior Democrat on the Senate Judiciary Committee, said in a statement following Lynch’s announcement: “This investigation is closed and that should be the end of this matter.” On Tuesday, Federal Bureau of Investigation Director James Comey said Clinton, the presumptive Democratic presidential nominee, had been “extremely careless” in her use of a private email server while she was secretary of state, but he recommended no criminal charges be filed in the case. Comey, who was deputy attorney general during the George W. Bush administration before becoming FBI director in 2013, is scheduled to testify on Thursday before a House committee, where Republicans and Democrats are expected to press him on his findings in the Clinton case. Lynch said she met on Wednesday afternoon with Comey and the career prosecutors and agents who had investigated whether Clinton broke the law as result of email servers kept in her Chappaqua, New York, home. One question is whether she mishandled classified information. House Speaker Paul Ryan, a Republican, said on Wednesday it appeared Clinton received preferential treatment from the FBI. Asked whether a special prosecutor should be named to investigate the matter, Ryan said the House would not “foreclose any options.” But Ryan did say that because of her messy handling of emails while serving as secretary of state, Clinton should be denied access to classified information during the campaign. Presidential candidates normally get such briefings once they are formally nominated. McConnell, Ryan’s Senate counterpart, stopped short of calling for such action. Clinton’s campaign was anxious to move on after Comey’s announcement, saying in a statement on Tuesday it was pleased with the FBI decision. | 1 |
1,759 | Trump says Obama 'colluded' on Russia, without giving evidence | WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. President Donald Trump on Monday demanded that investigators apologize for looking into Russian interference and possible collusion with his 2016 election campaign, accusing predecessor President Barack Obama of having “colluded or obstructed,” but he did not provide evidence. Department of Justice Special Counsel Robert Mueller, along with several congressional committees, are investigating allegations by U.S. intelligence agencies that Russia used cyber attacks and fake media stories to help Republican Trump against his Democratic Party opponent, Hillary Clinton. “The reason that President Obama did NOTHING about Russia after being notified by the CIA of meddling is that he expected Clinton would win... and did not want to ‘rock the boat.’ He didn’t ‘choke,’ he colluded or obstructed, and it did the Dems and Crooked Hillary no good,” he wrote on Twitter. Russia has denied meddling in the election and Trump has repeatedly called the investigations a witch hunt. In a Fox News interview broadcast on Sunday, Trump said he had learned that Obama had known about the Russia issue long before the election but that he “did nothing about it.” An official from Obama’s White House, who spoke on condition of anonymity, rejected Trump’s criticism and noted that Obama had raised the meddling issue directly with Russian President Vladimir Putin. “The Obama administration’s interest in making sure the response was bipartisan wasn’t for the sake of being bipartisan. It was necessary because we needed the buy-in from state and local election administrators – many of whom were Republican partisans and/or skeptical of federal government,” the official said. The White House referred any questions about the Russia investigations to Trump’s personal lawyer, Marc Kasowitz. Representatives for Kasowitz did not immediately reply to requests for comment on Trump’s latest statement. “With 4 months looking at Russia...they have zero “tapes” of T (Trump) people colluding. There is no collusion & no obstruction. I should be given apology!” Trump said in another Twitter post on Monday. The Obama administration formally accused Russia in October of a campaign of cyber attacks against Democratic Party organizations ahead of the Nov. 8 election. In December, Obama ordered intelligence agencies to review cyber attacks and foreign intervention in the election and to deliver a report before he left office on Jan. 20. The intelligence agencies said in January they had concluded that Moscow tried to tilt the election in Trump’s favor, including by hacking into senior Democrats’ emails and leaking them. Following a weekend Washington Post report about the Obama administration’s responses to the Russian matter, the top Democrat on the U.S. House of Representatives Intelligence Committee, Adam Schiff, criticized the Obama administration on Sunday for not taking earlier and tougher action against Russia. | 1 |
1,760 | India "disappointed" with China blocking bid to blacklist militant leader | NEW DELHI (Reuters) - India is disappointed by China s decision to again block its request at the United Nations to blacklist the head of a Pakistan-based militant group, the country s foreign ministry said in a statement on Thursday. India, backed by the United States, has been trying to get Maulana Masood Azhar on a U.N. list of groups with ties to Al Qaeda, blaming his group for a series of attacks in India, including one on its parliament in 2002 and another last year on an airbase. But China, a member of the U.N. Security Council, has repeatedly put a technical hold on the Indian request citing a lack of consensus, a claim India rejects. We are deeply disappointed that once again, a single country has blocked international consensus on the designation of an acknowledged terrorist and leader of U.N.-designated terrorist organization, Masood Azhar, India s foreign ministry said. China s foreign ministry spokeswoman Hua Chunying said last month there were clear rules for listing a person or group as a terrorist, and that China has always believed the relevant U.N. committee should operate on the principles of objectivity. The wrangling over Masood Azhar, a longtime Indian foe, has become a thorny issue in ties between China and India. India worries that China will stick by its all-weather friend, India s arch-foe Pakistan. India strongly believes that double standards and selective approaches will only undermine the international community s resolve to combat terrorism, India s foreign ministry said. | 1 |
1,761 | Leftists on cusp of power as weary Icelanders go to polls | REYKJAVIK (Reuters) - Angry over a string of political scandals, Icelanders may usher a long dominant center-right party out of the exit door in national elections on Saturday, handing power to a charismatic center-left opposition leader. Katr n Jakobsd ttir, 41, of the Left-Green Movement, has campaigned on a platform of restoring trust in government and leveraging an economic boom to increase public spending. With hair slick down, red lipstick, black coat and heels, Jakobsd ttir cast her vote in sunny Reykjavik. I m feeling very good about today, and I ll have to be optimistic, she told Reuters after casting her vote. Accompanied by her husband and three sons, she cheerfully took time to mingle with voters, who headed to polls on a for Iceland warm autumn day of about 7 Celsius (45 Fahrenheit). In the second snap parliamentary election in a year, the latest opinion polls showed her trailing Prime Minister Bjarni Benediktsson s pro-business Independence Party by a small margin. Both parties have polled around 20 percent for most of October. Whichever wins will likely nominate a prime minister who will then be invited to form a coalition government. I think this will be an exciting election night as there has been a lot of movement in the polls, Jakobsd ttir said. We ll be waiting until the morning hours, I won t go to bed until six in the morning. The Independence Party has been part of every government since 1980, except the coalition that served during the crisis years of 2009-2013, which included the Left-Greens, with Jakobsdottir as education minister. In her favor this time is the fact that the left-leaning Social Democrats are likely to become the third-biggest party., and that Icelanders appear as primed for change as at any time in recent memory. The Nordic island of 340,000 people, one of the countries hit hardest by the 2008 global financial crisis, has staged a remarkable economic turnaround spurred by tourism. But scandals, a growing sense of inequality and worries over immigration threaten stability in one of the world s most homogeneous nations. Benediktsson has been weakened by fallout from an attempt by his father to vouch for the character of a convicted pedophile. The previous snap election took place late in 2016, after the Panama Papers revelations showed several government figures involved in an offshore tax haven scandal. That gave a boost to the anti-establishment Pirate Party but its support has since waned. Forming a government this time could take months, as polls show a further five parties winning more than the five percent of votes needed to enter parliament. I just hope something changes, and there ll be more cooperation, said Ingunn Erlendsd ttir, 73, a retired ministry employee. We are only a small nation of just over 300,000, and we need to stand together, said the pensioner, adding that she has traditionally voted for the right but this time cast her ballot for a left-wing party. Known for her even temper, Jakobsdottir quickly became a popular figure in Iceland after being elected to parliament in 2007, and is one of the few high-profile politicians who have avoided scandal. Our campaign has been fun, and we ve taken it you could say back to the roots. Walking door to door, having meetings and meeting people in the real world, she said. While most parties agree that investment is needed in areas like welfare, infrastructure and tourism, the debate is around how it will be financed. The left-leaning parties, including Jakobsd ttir s, want to finance spending by raising taxes on the wealthy, real estate and the powerful fishing industry. Having presided over the privatization of banks, financial sector liberalization and the economy s collapse and eventual economic recovery during its several stints in power, the Independence Party has said it wants to fund infrastructure spending by taking money out of the banking sector. | 1 |
1,762 | “CONSERVATIVE GAY GUY” BLASTS Pence’s Aspen Neighbors For Hanging “Make America Gay Again Banner” In Front Of House | It s been said that good fences make good neighbors. But in Aspen, Colo., this week, Vice President Mike Pence has something different posted between his vacation lodging and that of the people next door.Specifically, it s a rainbow banner reading Make America Gay Again. It appeared on a stone pillar in front of the house where Pence and his wife are staying this week.VP @mike_pence is staying in a house near #Aspen on vacation. His neighbors have a colorful message for him. https://t.co/Ldef4h1G8U via @JasonAuslander pic.twitter.com/PzWqmN9Iml Aspen Times (@TheAspenTimes) December 30, 2017The daughters of the couple across the street and one of their girlfriends reportedly draped the rainbow banner on the pillar while a Pitkin County deputy and Secret Service members stood nearby, the Aspen Times reported. The stone pillar is situated at the end of the driveway between the two homes.According to the Times, the Secret Service agents were unfazed when the women draped the banner over the pillar, telling them, We re not here to control your free speech rights. FOX News Conservative Gay Guy expressed his disgust for the people who placed the Make America Gay Again banner across from the Pence family vacation retreat. He tweeted: I may be gay, but I m tired of this crap. My life doesn t revolve around my sexuality. I m a person first. The so-called tolerant left just continues to cause more division in this country. Mike Pence's neighbors in Aspen hung a "Make America Gay Again" banner.I may be gay, but I'm tired of this crap. My life doesn't revolve around my sexuality. I'm a person first. The so-called tolerant left just continues to cause more division in this country. Conservative Gay Guy (@ConservGayGuy) December 30, 2017Conservative Gay Guy is not afraid to call out liberal gays for being intolerant, he s also not afraid to call out his liberal friends for their hypocrisy:None of my conservative family members or friends turned their back on me when I came out as gay.However, 2 of my friends became social justice warriors & stopped being friends with me over my political views.The side that claims to be tolerant/compassionate isn't really so. Conservative Gay Guy (@ConservGayGuy) December 7, 2017When Muslim feminst (LOL!) activist Linda Sarsour tweeted in support of Sharia Law, Conservative Gay Guy destroyed her with his response:You'll know when you're living under Sharia Law if suddenly all your loans & credit cards become interest free. Sound nice, doesn't it? Linda Sarsour (@lsarsour) May 13, 2015I'll know when I'm thrown off a building for being gay. https://t.co/bxREbbopLb Conservative Gay Guy (@ConservGayGuy) December 28, 2017Conservative Gay Guy hit the nail on the head with this illegal immigration analogy:If half a family bought tickets to Disneyland & half snuck in, would they be breaking up families by kicking out the ones who snuck in? Isn't the half who paid allowed to leave with them? Please take the free education & go back to your country now that you know how to fix it. Conservative Gay Guy (@ConservGayGuy) December 28, 2017 | 0 |
1,763 | Syrian government forces will march to Raqqa soon, Iranian official says | BEIRUT (Reuters) - Syrian government forces will advance soon to take Raqqa city, which U.S.-backed fighters seized from Islamic State last month, a senior Iranian official said on Friday. Ali Akbar Velayati, the top adviser to Iran s Supreme Leader, also accused the United States of seeking to divide Syria by stationing its forces east of the Euphrates river. We will witness in the near future the advance of government and popular forces in Syria and east of the Euphrates, and the liberation of Raqqa city, he said in televised comments on a visit to Beirut. Since early in the Syrian war, Iran has provided critical military support to the Damascus government, helping it regain swathes of land from rebels and militants. Last month, U.S.-backed militias declared victory in Raqqa, Islamic State s former headquarters in Syria, after months of fighting with the help of the U.S.-led coalition. The Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), an alliance of Kurdish and Arab militias, is also battling Islamic State in eastern Syria with U.S.-led air strikes and special forces. The SDF assault in Deir al-Zor has focused on territory east of the river, which bisects the oil-rich province. The Syrian army, with Russian air power and Iran-backed militias, is waging its own separate offensive against Islamic State there, mostly to the west of the river. The U.S.-led coalition and the Russian military have been holding deconfliction meetings - to prevent clashes between planes and troops - though the two offensives have sometimes come into conflict. The U.S.-led coalition against Islamic State has repeatedly said it does not seek to fight Syrian President Bashar al-Assad s military. After capturing Raqqa, the SDF said the people of the majority Arab city would decide their own future within the framework of a decentralized, federal, democratic Syria. The Kurdish-led SDF pledged to protect the frontiers of (Raqqa) province against all external threats and to hand control to a civil council from the city. But last week, Damascus said it deemed Raqqa occupied until the Syrian army took control. With Islamic State near defeat in Syria, rivalry between Damascus and Kurdish-led forces is emerging as a fault line that could draw the United States in more deeply and complicate Russian diplomacy. Syria s main Kurdish groups hope for a new phase of negotiations to shore up their autonomous regions in the north. The Syrian government, however, has asserted in more forceful terms its claim to territory under SDF control including oil fields in the east. | 1 |
1,764 | Ted Nugent Just Posted The Most Racist F*cking Thing You Have Ever Seen (SCREENSHOTS) | If you thought Trump supporters wered bad, wait till you get a load of oh, wait, Ted Nugent is a Trump supporter. Everyone s favorite draft-dodging, pants-pooping pedophile with a penchant for posting horrifically racist sh*t, NRA board member Ted Nugent, recently outdid himself to such a degree that he performed an action rarely seen on his hate speech-filled Facebook wall he hit delete. In a March 31 Facebook post now scrubbed from the annals of internet history Nugent said: Before all the braindead dishonest lying scum politically correct racist hatepunks get all goofball toxic on us here, I am simply promoting a brilliant entrepreneur in Detroit that created a clever bussiness. His words, not mine. Ya gotta luv this guy!! When in doubt whip it out! Whom does Nugent love? What sort of thing could get the hatepunks (read: reasonable people) riled up?It was probably the fact that Nugent posted a photo of a fake moving company van that frequents white supremacist message boards:While it s obvious why Ted Nugent loves it it does say n*gger, after all but contrary to assertions made by Nugent and his future hunting buddy in the comments that the vehicle is real, it s not. It s just more garbage that Donald Trump s fans, one-fifth of whom think it was a bad idea to end slavery, can pass around and enjoy as they discuss their plans to lynch black people.Last year, Nugent praised the use of the n-word in a column on World Net Daily titled Don t be niggardly with language. After the President used the word n*gger while speaking about how racism is still an issue in our society, Nugent wrote: Well, there you have it. The Honest Society is a rather large and growing club, clan if you will, that is not afraid of speaking honestly without fear of politically correct word nazi s going berserk. Nugent proclaimed that the use of n-word in place of the full thing is the epitome of political correctness gone mad, going on to explain that the word n*gger has historically been used in a powerfully positive way in some scenarios. He went on to proclaim that society shunning the word n*gger does nothing to help the criminality of blacks in Chicago and other urban hellzones. Besides, he says, black people use the word and it is the very definition of racism not to let white people spew it as much as they want with no repercussions.Nugent once adopted a 17-year-old girl so that he could have sex with her. This has no relation to anything current, but it seemed like a good note on which to end.Featured image via screengrab | 0 |
1,765 | SNL’s Rachel Dratch Exposes The Terrifying Lunacy Of Open Carry Laws In Less Than 2 Minutes (VIDEO) | Moms Demand Action for Gun Sense in America recently released their newest gun control PSA, and this one stars Saturday Night Live s Rachel Dratch. The commercial, which is less than two minutes long, starts out fine but takes a dark and terrifying turn at the end. The PSA is a satirical version of the life of a busy mom.The PSA is a satirical version of the life of a busy mom. It starts out with Dratch holding a laundry basket on the stairs in her house, saying: I woke up at 6:30 to walk the dog and pack a lunch for fourth grader with a peanut allergy and a seven-year-old who thinks bananas taste like butts! You then see her character s daughter walking past her with a pair of scissors in her hand. Rachel grabs the scissors to protect the little girl from getting hurt while continuing to talk about how busy she is. Her son rides by her on a scooter with no helmet on, so she doesn t miss a beat and puts one on his noggin.Basically, the first half of the commercial is a busy mom, protecting her children as best she can from being hurt in some sort of childhood related accident. At the end of the clip the family is at their favorite restaurant and suddenly the mood changes:The restaurant is filled with people drinking and they all have guns. The PSA is obviously targeting states like Texas where it is now legal for ammosexuals to bring their guns into eateries and scare the crap out of our children. What s worse is that this scenario is completely within the realm of possibility in states like Texas. According to Eater.com:Even though the open-carrying of weapons is still not allowed in bars and other establishments that make 51 percent of their revenue from alcohol sales, restaurants on the opposite side of the equation are left with a difficult question to answer.So if your local family restaurant makes less than 51 percent of its money on alcohol sales, crazy Bob from down the road can bring his weapon with him, get drunk and accidentally kill your kid with his penile extension. Murica.Featured image: video screenshot | 0 |
1,766 | Australian publisher delays book alleging China influence in Australia | BEIJING (Reuters) - One of Australia s largest independent publishers said it decided to delay the publication of a book that alleges widespread Chinese government influence in Australian institutions due to legal concerns. Sydney-based Allen & Unwin said in a statement on Sunday it had decided to delay publication of the book, Silent Invasion , following extensive legal advice . It said the book s author, Clive Hamilton, was unwilling to delay publication and requested the return of the book s rights. Hamilton said the publisher s chief executive, Robert Gorman, sent him an email on Wednesday saying the reason for the delay was due to concerns over possible legal action from Beijing. The email from Gorman, which was reviewed by Reuters, said the scheduled publishing date of April next year was too soon to publish the book and allow us to adequately guard against potential threats to the book and the company from possible action by Beijing . The email cited fears of a defamation action . Allen & Unwin s statement on Sunday, from Louise Cornege, its head of publicity, did not specify which court cases it was referring to. Gorman did not respond to requests for comment. Hamilton, an Australian who has previously published eight books with Allen & Unwin, said the shadow cast by Beijing is enough to make them so nervous about the consequences of publishing criticism of the Communist Party . Australian Foreign Minister Julie Bishop said on Monday that, while she was unaware of the specific contractual details between the author and publisher, she would be concerned if there were any attempts to stifle free speech in Australia, particularly at the behest of a foreign government . China s State Council Information Office, which doubles as the ruling Chinese Communist Party s spokesman s office, did not immediately respond to a request for comment sent on Sunday. Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Geng Shuang said at a daily news briefing on Monday that he was unaware of the issue, but that China was committed to developing exchanges and cooperation with Australia in all areas on the basis of mutual respect and equality. Concern in Australia that Beijing may be extending its influence in the country has become a topic of political debate and media coverage over the past year. In June, Australian Broadcasting Corporation and Fairfax Media, publisher of the Sydney Morning Herald and The Age newspapers, published reports saying that there was a concerted campaign by China and its proxies to infiltrate the Australian political process and institutions to promote Chinese interests. China has denied the claims in the reports, which the Chinese Foreign Ministry has said were totally unfounded and irresponsible . Fairfax and the ABC declined to comment. Australia s Attorney-General George Brandis said in June that the threat of political interference by foreign intelligence services is a problem of the highest order and is getting worse . He said the Australian government had conducted a comprehensive review and planned to strengthen the country s espionage and foreign interference laws. Hamilton said his book was the first comprehensive national study of Beijing s program of exerting influence on another nation . The book documented the influence and penetration of the Chinese Communist Party in Australian political parties, universities and cultural organizations, as well as the Chinese diaspora in Australia, he said in a telephone interview. The delay of the book comes after two international publishing houses - Springer Nature, which publishes science magazines Nature and Scientific American, and Cambridge University Press - were criticized recently for restricting access to articles on sensitive subjects in China. In August, Cambridge University Press, which had initially blocked online access to hundreds of scholarly articles in China reversed its position and reposted the material, following an outcry over academic freedom. Cambridge University said at the time that the move to block content had been a temporary decision . Springer said early this month that it had pulled access to a small number of articles in China to comply with regulations, adding that it viewed the move as regrettable but necessary. Beijing has said all publications imported into China must comply with Chinese laws and regulations. | 1 |
1,767 | White Students Rape Black Teen With Coat Hanger After Months Of Racist Taunting (VIDEO) | A federal lawsuit filed against officials at Dietrich High School, located in Dietrich, Idaho, claims that coaches and other staff at the school contributed to an environment of racist bullying, which culminated in the vicious rape of a Black teen by three white students.As KBOI reports here, 17-year-old Tanner Ward and 18-year-old John Howard, along with a third student who was not named, are facing felony sexual assault charges, after authorities say they carried out a vicious sexual assault on a disabled student.The three white students used a coat hanger to rape their Black classmate in the school locker room, last October.According to New York Daily News:A witness testified that Ward initiated the heartless attack and that Howard was the one who kicked the coat hanger five or six times while it was jammed inside the boy s rectum, causing painful injuries that required hospital treatment.The victim, who testified for the first time about the rape last month, told the court that he remembers the three students laughing throughout the brutal assault.According to the suit, coaches and other school officials created an atmosphere in which racist bullying of the mentally disabled teen was not only tolerated but encouraged.The suit alleges that football coaches urged other students, including Howard, to beat-up on the teen, claiming that it would toughen him up. KBOI reports that the victim was made to wear boxing gloves, while Howard was encouraged to fight him bare-handed.During the incident, other students and coaches surrounded the Black teen, shouting racial slurs at him. The nighttime fight, as it was referred to by coaches and students, ended when the disabled teen was knocked unconscious by Howard.This is just one of many instances of racist bullying described in the suit, which states that the victim was taunted and called racist names by other members of the team which names include Kool-Aid chicken eater watermelon and n r, over the course of several months.According to New York Daily News:Howard, who is portrayed in court documents as the ringleader in the merciless harassment, is accused of forcing the black boy to sing a Ku Klux Klan song he learned in Texas, called Notorious KKK. Howard also encouraged other football players to join in on the vicious bullying, the suit alleges.The suit, which seeks $10 million in damages, alleges that coaches and school officials knew what was happening, but failed in their duty to protect the disabled student.As KTVB reports in the video below, since filing the suit the victim s family has experienced harassment from some local residents. The school was placed on lockdown on Wednesday, after news of the story broke nationally.Here s more on the story from KTVB.Image credit: video screen capture KTVB | 0 |
1,768 | Trump defends tweets as key to White House victory | WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. President Donald Trump defended his regular use of social media, especially Twitter, and said he may not have won the White House without it. In an interview airing on Sunday on “Fox Business Network,” Trump says he can bypass what he labels unfair media coverage by speaking directly. “Tweeting is like a typewriter — when I put it out, you put it immediately on your show,” he said, according to a transcript released by the network. “I doubt I would be here if weren’t for social media, to be honest with you.” Trump called his social media accounts on Facebook Inc (FB.O), Twitter Inc (TWTR.N) and Instagram “a tremendous platform.” “When somebody, says something about me, I am able to go bing, bing, bing and I take care of it. The other way, I would never be get the word out,” he said, according to the transcript. Republican leaders have regularly urged Trump to avoid or cut back on tweets and Trump acknowledged some friends suggest he not use social media. Trump regularly mounts attacks on Twitter, especially at news media and political opponents, often sending out missives in the early morning or late evening hours. At times, Trump’s tweets have contained factual inaccuracies and personal attacks. In March for example, Trump asserted without evidence President Barack Obama had ordered Trump Tower in New York wiretapped - something Obama denied. In September, the FBI and the Justice Department said in a court filing “they have no records related to wiretaps as described” by tweets from Trump. He recently excoriated NFL players for taking a knee during the National Anthem. He also criticized Senator Bob Corker in a series of tweets prompting Corker to respond: “It’s a shame the White House has become an adult day care center. Someone obviously missed their shift this morning.” White House chief of staff John Kelly said last week some have criticized him for failing to control Trump’s tweeting. “I was not brought to this job to control anything but the flow of information to our president,” Kelly said. In July, Trump was sued in federal court by seven individuals whom he has blocked on Twitter. The Justice Department said the suit should be dismissed, arguing it “rests on the unsupported and erroneous premise that the president’s Twitter account is a public forum for First Amendment purposes.” | 1 |
1,769 | Congress votes to avert shutdown, sends Trump stopgap spending bill | WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The U.S. Congress on Thursday averted a government shutdown just one day before federal funding was due to expire, sending President Donald Trump a bill to provide just enough money to keep agencies operating through Jan. 19. With lawmakers eager to begin a holiday recess until Jan. 3, the House of Representatives and Senate scurried to pass the hastily written bill by votes of 231-188 and 66-32, respectively. When Congress returns, lawmakers will immediately have to get back to work on appropriating more money for a fiscal year that already will be three months old. They will try to pass an “omnibus” spending bill to fund the government from Jan. 19 through Sept. 30. Negotiators have been struggling for months over thorny issues such as the amount of defense-spending increases versus increases for other domestic programs, including medical research, opioid treatment and “anti-terrorism” activities. Fiscal hawks, meanwhile, are angry that Congress is again moving to bust through spending caps that had been designed to tamp down mounting federal debt. But some of those same lawmakers in the Republican-controlled Congress earlier in the week voted for a sweeping tax bill that will add $1.5 trillion over the next 10 years to a national debt that already stands at $20 trillion. With the clock ticking toward a deadline of midnight on Friday when government funding would run out, Democrats in the House and Senate made a strong pitch for including protections for young immigrants who entered the country illegally as children, popularly known as “Dreamers.” In the end, the Congressional Hispanic Caucus and immigration advocacy groups failed. But nearly all of the House’s 193 Democrats and 29 of the Senate’s 46 Democrats voted no, in part to protest the lack of action on the immigration measure. Shortly before the House and Senate votes, Democratic Representative Luis Gutierrez told reporters, “We’re really tired of tomorrow,” referring to years of failed attempts in Congress to protect Dreamers from deportation, allow them to legally work in the United States and get on a path to citizenship. They will resume their fight in January, aiming to win on the next spending bill or a separate measure. Trump has eliminated Obama-era temporary protections for Dreamers, but has asked Congress to come up with a permanent solution by March. In the meantime, about 122 Dreamers a day are becoming vulnerable to deportation while Congress bickers. Also on Thursday, the Senate put the brakes on another bill that passed the House, which would provide $81 billion in new disaster aid to help Puerto Rico, the U.S. Virgin Islands and several states hit by this year’s hurricanes or wildfires. The temporary spending bill did, however, give Trump a modest increase of $4.7 billion for the Department of Defense to be used for missile defense and ship repair. The bill includes $2.85 billion to fund the Children’s Health Insurance Program through March and funding for community health centers and the Indian Health Service. The plan also would extend the National Security Agency’s expiring internet surveillance program, known as Section 702 of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act, through Jan. 19. Other provisions address funding for veterans, the Coast Guard and flood insurance. Most government programs would be temporarily extended until Jan. 19 at fiscal 2017 levels. | 1 |
1,770 | Exclusive: India pares back planned funding for crucial public health scheme | NEW DELHI (Reuters) - India has approved a three-year budget for its flagship public health program almost 20 percent lower than what the health ministry said was needed, according to sources and previously unreported government documents reviewed by Reuters. The federal finance ministry in August renewed the National Health Mission with $20 billion of funding between 2017-20, against the health ministry s estimated requirement of $25 billion, the documents showed. Officials familiar with the plan said the finance ministry reduced planned funding because of other spending priorities and because of state governments poor track record of spending the health budgets they ve been allotted in the past. The finance and health ministries did not respond to several requests for comment. The National Health Mission is one of the world s largest health programs and forms the backbone of public services in India. It provides everything from free drugs to immunization services to millions of rural poor. Prime Minister Narendra Modi s government has hiked federal funding for the overall health budget this year as part of a plan to improve care and meet a 2025 goal of raising health expenditure to 2.5 percent of GDP from the current 1.15 percent. The National Health Mission typically accounts for about half of the federal health budget and officials said the lower spending approval would make achieving the government s 2025 target more difficult. NON-COMMUNICABLE DISEASES After focusing on maternal and child health for years, the program had planned to broaden its priorities to tackle the rising threat of non-communicable diseases (NCDs). Faced with the lower funding, the health ministry has reduced its three-year allocation to tackle NCDs such as cancer and diabetes to $1.4 billion, close to half of the estimated need of $2.4 billion, the documents showed. The Lancet, a British medical journal, last week said NCDs caused a disease burden in India like never before . More than 60 percent of deaths in the country during 2016 were due to non-communicable diseases, up from about 38 percent in 1990, according to the publication. While funding for such diseases up to 2020 will be higher than in recent years, the lower-than-planned approved funding will slow government efforts to tackle these diseases, two government officials said. The cutbacks in NCDs (spending) are dangerous ... this can potentially stall the NCD screening and management plan, said Oommen C. Kurian, a health researcher at the New Delhi-based think-tank Observer Research Foundation. India this year introduced free NCD screening for patients in 100 districts, with plans to eventually cover the country. Beyond non-communicable diseases, spending on strengthening the health system - such as improving district hospitals and patient transport services - will be an estimated $4.3 billion between 2017-20, a third lower than the ministry s request. Planned funding for immunization will be $2.9 billion versus $3.2 billion requested. The spending breakdown for different schemes will be finalised once the health ministry is allocated funding in India s annual budget. Modi s government has taken steps to improve public healthcare including a 27 percent budget hike this year to $7 billion, accompanied by cuts to prices of critical medical devices and drugs. Shamika Ravi, a health expert at Brookings India, said Modi s government was also pursuing fundamental structural reforms to improve healthcare, such as the ranking of district hospitals and empowering state medical officers. There is a lot of background work happening, said Ravi, who is also on Modi s economic advisory council. However, critics say more needs to be done to address the underfunded and overburdened public health system. Some 900,000 children in India died before turning five in 2016, the highest in the world, The Lancet estimates. In March, health officials faced criticism from other government departments for the National Health Mission s inefficiencies and were asked to rework the renewal proposal for 2017-20 after they drew up spending estimates of $33 billion. The health ministry revised the cost to nearly $25 billion, but the finance ministry reduced estimates by another $5 billion while approving the plan, the documents showed. The estimates were pared back because Modi s government has other priorities and because the finance ministry wants to control spending as it seeks to balance fiscal deficit targets while boosting growth, several government officials aware of the process said. It s about political priorities - you have programs on roads, on infrastructure, on ports, said one of the officials, speaking on the condition of anonymity. The government is also concerned states do not have the governance capacity to spend large health budgets efficiently, officials said. A shortage of workers, bureaucratic bungling and slow procurement processes have plagued the states health systems. More than $1.4 billion in health budgets was unspent by states by 2015-16, India s federal auditor said earlier this year. | 1 |
1,771 | Japan's Abe to launch $17-billion Indian bullet train project as ties deepen | NEW DELHI/TOKYO (Reuters) - Japan s Prime Minister Shinzo Abe will lay the foundation stone for India s first bullet train in Prime Minister Narendra Modi s home state this week, in a tightening of ties just days after New Delhi ended a dangerous military confrontation with China. The move by Abe, who starts a two-day visit to India on Wednesday, highlights an early lead for Japan in a sector where the Chinese have also been trying to secure a foothold, but without much success. Modi has made the 500-km- (311-mile-) long high-speed rail link between the financial hub of Mumbai and the industrial city of Ahmedabad in western Gujarat a centerpiece of his efforts to showcase India s ability to build cutting-edge infrastructure. The leaders will launch the start of work on the line on Thursday, India s railways ministry said in a statement. This technology will revolutionize and transform the transport sector, said Railways Minister Piyush Goyal, welcoming the prospects for growth brought by Japan s high-speed shinkansen technology. In Tokyo, a Japanese foreign ministry official told reporters, We would like to support Make in India as much as possible, referring to Modi s signature policy to lure investors in manufacturing. And for that, we want to do what s beyond the Mumbai-Ahmedabad line and achieve economies of scale. India would make all-out efforts to complete the line by August 2022, more than a year earlier than planned, the government said this week. Japan is providing 81 percent of the funding for the 1.08-trillion-rupee ($16.9-billion) project, through a 50-year loan at 0.1 percent annual interest. Ties between India and Japan have blossomed as Modi and Abe increasingly see eye-to-eye in countering growing Chinese assertiveness across Asia. Japanese investment into India has surged in areas ranging from automotives to infrastructure in the remote northeast, making Tokyo its third-largest foreign direct investor. India and Japan are also trying to move forward on a plan for New Delhi to buy Japanese amphibious aircraft - ShinMaywa Industries US-2 - in what would be one of Tokyo s first arms transfers since ending a self-imposed embargo. Tokyo hopes that by gaining a head start on rival exporters of rail technology such as China and Germany, its companies will be able to dominate business in one of the most promising markets for high-speed rail equipment. In 2015, China won a contract to assess the feasibility of a high-speed link between Delhi and Mumbai, part of a network of more than 10,000 km (6,214 miles) of track India wants to set up, but little progress has been made. Bullet train critics say the funds would be far better spent to modernize India s slow and rickety state-controlled rail system, the world s fourth largest. But a $15-billion safety overhaul has hit delays as a state steel firm proved unable to fill demand for new rail. | 1 |
1,772 | Fox Host LOSES IT, Expertly Rips Trump’s ‘Buy American’ Policy APART (VIDEO) | While most of America can see right through to the flaws of Donald Trump s policies, it s always a special moment when someone from Fox News recognizes it.Earlier today, Fox host Shep Smith tore Trump s latest executive order apart, noting that it could actually ruin America s economy instead of help it. Smith, who has been a vocal critic on Trump before, expertly pointed out that Trump s announcement of a Buy American and Hire American order will actually cause the cost of goods in America to skyrocket.Trump s new plan will review the H-1B visa program for foreign workers; a program that many massive companies use. Pointing out that the program serves a purpose, Smith explained: Tech giants including Amazon, Apple, Google, and others all hire thousands and thousand of using it. Even automakers, including Ford and GM, use this program to find engineers. Executives for those companies argue they can t always find enough American workers with the skills needed for the specific jobs. They also claim the program encourages students to stay in the United States after school. Then, Smith went after Trump by pointing out that even the POTUS himself doesn t buy or hire American when it comes to his own businesses: But the White House says the companies take advantage of those visas, that they bring in large numbers of foreign workers pay them less, and drive down wages. President Trump himself has gone back and forth over this program. And as for the president s push to buy American, opponents point out the obvious, that some of the president s own products were made from workers from about a dozen other companies. And besides the price of everything at your Walmart and your local store and everywhere else goes way up for you. Smith is exactly right and brilliant for exposing Trump s own hypocrisy, and for explaining to conservatives that the man they elected is not going to help America like they thought he would.You can watch Smith take down Trump below:Featured image via Scott Olson/Getty Images | 0 |
1,773 | U.S. Republican congressman Labrador to run for Idaho governor: Idaho TV station | WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Prominent U.S. conservative congressman Raul Labrador has decided run for Idaho governor in the 2018 election, which will leave his seat in the House of Representatives up for grabs, KPVI television in Pocatello, Idaho, reported on Tuesday. “Idaho needs a proven conservative leader who will stand against the special interests and politicians that have picked the winners and losers in our state Capitol for too long,” Labrador said in a statement obtained by the station. “Idaho needs a governor who will provide a new vision, a new approach and new leadership,” he said in the statement. The four-term congressman was a founding member of the conservative Freedom Caucus in the House of Representatives and was part of a rebel group of conservatives who were a thorn in the side of Republican John Boehner as House speaker. Labrador voted in favor of the House’s compromise healthcare reform legislation last week. When confronted by angry constituents at a town hall meeting after the vote, he responded by saying: “Nobody dies because they don’t have access to healthcare,” a comment that provoked outrage on social media. (This version of the story corrects source in headline) | 1 |
1,774 | European Commission says 'ball still rolling' on trade deal with U.S. | BRUSSELS (Reuters) - The European Union’s executive said on Monday it had a unanimous mandate from the bloc’s 28 members to finalize negotiations on a free trade deal with the United States, a day after Germany’s economy minister said the talks had “de facto failed”. Sigmar Gabriel of Germany, the EU’s biggest economy, said on Sunday that negotiations over the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP) had failed because Europe rejected some U.S. demands. Asked to comment on Gabriel’s remarks, a European Commission spokesman said: “The ball is still rolling” on TTIP. “Although trade talks take time, the ball is rolling right now and the Commission is making steady progress in the ongoing TTIP negotiations,” Margaritis Schinas told a news conference. The White House also disputed Gabriel’s contention, saying it was still aiming to reach a deal by the end of the year. “It’s going to require the resolution of some pretty thorny negotiations, but the president and his team are committed to doing that,” White House spokesman Josh Earnest told reporters in Washington. In Berlin, Germany’s leading industry associations were critical of Gabriel’s remarks and urged the German government to show greater commitment to free trade deals. The head of industry association BDI, Ulrich Grillo, said it was “astonishing” that Gabriel, who is also vice chancellor and head of the co-governing Social Democrats, had declared the TTIP talks a failure when negotiations were still going on. Top officials of other industry associations such as VDMA and the Auto Industry Association VDA also spoke out against Gabriel’s comments, which highlighted growing divisions within Chancellor Angela Merkel’s ruling coalition ahead of next year’s elections. Three years of negotiations have failed to resolve multiple differences, including over food and environmental safety, with critics saying the pact would hand too much power to big multinationals at the expense of consumers and workers. Backers of a sweeping U.S.-EU free trade deal see it bringing economic gains on both sides of the Atlantic. EU trade ministers will discuss the issue in Bratislava on Sept. 22. Schinas said the Commission was still ready to finalize the deal by the end of the year but not at the expense of “Europe’s safety, health, social and data protection standards, or our cultural diversity”. Commenting separately on Gabriel’s remarks, Lithuanian Foreign Minister Linas Linkevicius said he believed arriving at a deal would benefit both the EU and the United States. “It would be better for all sides to agree,” he said. “Of course, not at an expense of our interests. We have to defend our interests, but we also have to negotiate and conclude this agreement. It would be a big boost for economies, jobs, trade.” Britain’s June vote to leave the EU has further clouded the picture, although Schinas said Brussels was still negotiating on behalf of all 28 members of the bloc, including London. | 1 |
1,775 | WATCH: Khizr Khan Pleas With Top GOP Officials To Abandon Trump | Khizr Khan, whose son died while serving as an American Army captain in Iraq, spoke at the Democratic National Convention where he called out Donald Trump for his proposal to ban Muslims from entering the United States. Khan said during his speech that Trump has sacrificed nothing and no one in his life. Trump fired back at the man and his family, creating a political firestorm.During an interview on MSNBC s The Last Word, Khan pleaded with GOP House Speaker Paul Ryan and GOP Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell to disavow Trump. During his plea, Khan alleges that the only reason the two have not dropped Trump is due to fear of the political consequences of the move. If your candidate wins and he governs the way he has campaigned, my country this country will have a Constitutional crisis like never before in the history of this country. And my conscience compels me under these really difficult circumstances. [I have] very raw emotions. I am a very composed person. I don t become that emotional but there is so much at stake and I appeal to both of these leaders. There comes a time in the history of a nation where a moral stand must be taken regardless of the political cost. The only reason they are not repudiating his behavior, his threat to our democracy, our decency, our foundation, is just because of political consequences. Both Ryan and McConnell have tacitly spoken out against the comments Trump made about the Khan family. Both Republicans are less than thrilled that Trump is the Republican Party s presidential candidate, though the two have said that they will support him over Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton.If and how long Trump will continue to have their support is anyone s guess.You can watch the interview below, in full.Featured image via video screen capture | 0 |
1,776 | Taiwan calls on China to view Trump call 'calmly' | TAIPEI (Reuters) - Taiwan’s policy making body on China, the Mainland Affairs Council, said on Saturday that China should look at the call between U.S. President-elect Donald Trump and Taiwan President Tsai Ing-wen “calmly”. “We call on China to face the new situation in the Asia-Pacific region and work with us towards developing a benign cross-strait relationship and create a new way that will benefit the development of peace, prosperity and stability for the region,” it said in a statement. | 1 |
1,777 | Colombian ex-official sentenced to jail for Odebrecht bribes | BOGOTA (Reuters) - A Colombian judge sentenced a former vice-minister of transport to five years and two months in prison on Tuesday after the ex-official admitted to taking millions of dollars in bribes from Brazilian construction giant Odebrecht. Gabriel Garcia Morales, who served under former President Alvaro Uribe, accepted $6.5 million in pay-offs to help Odebrecht [ODBES.UL] win a 2010 road construction contract valued at over $1 billion, the attorney general s press office told Reuters. Garcia Morales has promised to testify against other public officials who received bribes, the attorney general s office said on Twitter. The Brazilian firm is at the center of one of the largest corruption scandals in Latin America, and has admitted paying bribes from Peru to Panama. Ecuador jailed its vice president over the scandal and last year the company agreed to pay $3.5 billion in settlements in the United States, Brazil and Switzerland. Colombia s attorney general said Odebrecht paid more than $27 million in bribes in the Andean country. One former and one current lawmaker, the former director of the national infrastructure agency, and others have also been arrested in connection with the case. Morales, who was also fined $21,000, was originally sentenced to 10 years but the sentence was reduced because he accepted responsibility. | 1 |
1,778 | Iranian, Iraqi government forces to hold joint border drills - Iran TV | DUBAI (Reuters) - Iranian and Iraqi central government forces are to hold joint military exercises near their borders, Iran s state television reported on Saturday, as part of Tehran s effort to support Baghdad after the Kurdish independence referendum. State television quoted a military spokesman as saying the decision to hold the war games was taken at a meeting of Iranian military commanders which also agreed on measures to establish border security and receive Iraqi forces that are to be stationed at border posts . | 1 |
1,779 | UPDATE: JUDGE REJECTS STATE DEPARTMENT PUSH FOR JANUARY 2016 RELEASE OF CLINTON E-MAILS | A federal judge REJECTED the State Department s request of a JANUARY 2016 (right before the IOWA primary) release of Hillary Clinton s e-mails in one big batch. U.S. District Court Judge Rudolph Contreras (Obama appointee) announced Tuesday his plans to order a rolling production of the emails just hours after the State Department proposed that it not be required to make the records public until January 2016, a lawyer involved said.ORIGINAL POST:In response to a Freedom of Information Act lawsuit filed this year, the State Department said that reviewing 55,000 pages of exchanges from Mrs. Clinton s private email account would be labor-intensive and time-consuming.Noting the considerable public interest in the emails, the department is endeavoring to complete the review and production of them as expeditiously as possible, said John F. Hackett, acting director of the Office of Information Programs and Services at the State Department. The collection is, however, voluminous and, due to the breadth of topics, the nature of the communications, and the interests of several agencies, presents several challenges. The State Department is proposing a date of Jan. 15, 2016, for releasing the emails.The department is dividing the material into small batches, with plans to review about 1,000 emails a week. In addition to the State Department s Freedom of Information Act office, subject-matter experts within the department will review the emails before their release, as will other government agencies when relevant, including the Defense Department, the Central Intelligence Agency and the National Security Council. Currently, this project is staffed full time by a project manager and two case analysts, as well as nine FOIA reviewers who devote the entirety of their time at the State Department to this effort, plus other analysts and information technology specialists who provide collateral assistance to this review in addition to their regular duties, the filing stated. The team managing this project has met daily since early April to implement and oversee this large undertaking. Read more: PoliticoRead more: NYT | 0 |
1,780 | yes jihad means warfare against unbelievers | fbi believes foreign intel agencies got into hillarys server november daniel greenfield
just one of those honest mistakes leading to a massive violation of national security by anyone who felt like it these are still reports from various insider sources but if true this would be a major factor in how much damage hillarys cover up did
authorities now believe there is about a percent chance that up to five foreign intelligence agencies may have accessed and taken emails from hillary clintons private server two separate sources with intimate knowledge of the fbi investigations told fox news
the revelation led house homeland security committee chairman michael mccaul to describe clintons handling of her email system during her tenure as secretary of state as treason
she exposed information to our enemies mccaul said on fox friends thursday morning our adversaries have this very sensitive information in my opinion quite frankly its treason
mccaul rtexas said that fbi director james comey told him previously that foreign adversaries likely had gotten into her server when comey publicly discussed the clinton email case back in july he also said that while there was no evidence hostile actors breached the server it was possible they had gained access
if true this is much more than possible and it would explain the level of outrage within the fbi at the pass that hillary clinton has received | 1 |
1,781 | Fox Host: Don’t Ban Assault Weapons Because Terrorists Would Just Use Crock Pots (VIDEO) | Fox News host Tucker Carlson is so desperate to defend assault weapons that he accidentally made the case for why they should banned.During the Sunday morning edition of Fox amd Friends, Carlson argued that it s useless to ban assault weapons because terrorists will just go out and use crock pots to kill people instead. This is an attempt to control and disarm the population. And they re using terror as a pretext to do it. And they should just admit that, Carlson said.The call to once again ban assault weapons has been strong ever since the mass shooting in Orlando that killed 50 people and wounded another 53. ISIS sympathizer Omar Mateen was able to buy his assault weapon because Republicans in Congress refuse to ban suspected terrorists from purchasing and owning guns.Even Fox News hosts Bill O Reilly and Gretchen Carlson have declared their support for banning assault weapons during their own programs on the conservative network.Anna Kooiman explained that supporters of an assault weapons ban reason that a person will do less damage if they are only able to carry a knife or something much less deadly than an AR-15, which is a weapon of war and not something that was designed for civilian use.But Carlson claimed that crock pots should also be banned because terrorists used them to kill people, too. Well, a crock pot caused those killings at the Boston Marathon. I think we need to regulate those or ban them. There s no reason you should be able to buy a crock pot at Walmart ever again. And that s not only wrong, it s a false equivalency.As Raw Story points out, the Boston Marathon bombers used a pressure cooker, not a crock pot, as their weapon of choice. And they were only able to kill THREE people with it. The Orlando shooter, on the other hand, used an assault weapon and ended the lives of 50 people. If Carlson really wants to compare a kitchen utensil to a gun, he should start looking for a better argument because if Mateen had been using a crock pot or a pressure cooker there would be more people alive today.Here s the video via YouTube.Featured image via screen capture | 0 |
1,782 | Highlights: Reactions to German national election | BERLIN (Reuters) - Chancellor Angela Merkel won a fourth term in office on Sunday but will have to build an uneasy coalition to form a German government after her conservatives haemorrhaged support in the face of a surge by the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD). Following are highlights of comments and reactions: CENTRE-RIGHT CDU/CSU BLOC ANGELA MERKEL, CDU party leader, told supporters in Berlin: Of course we had hoped for a slightly better result. But we mustn t forget that we have just completed an extraordinarily challenging legislative period, so I am happy that we reached the strategic goals of our election campaign, Merkel said. We are the strongest party, we have the mandate to build the next government - and there cannot be a coalition government built against us, Merkel added. Speaking during a television debate of the main parties top candidates, Merkel said: Numerically there are still two ways to form a coalition. Numerically SPD and CDU/CSU have enough. The question of the responsibility that everyone has is not just theory but a practical question... I have heard that the SPD is not available for talks, but we can talk about that again tomorrow. We will sleep on it and then hold some talks... I intend for Germany to have a stable government, Merkel added. HORST SEEHOFER, CSU leader and Bavarian Prime Minister, told broadcaster ARD: We had a vacuum on the right side that we need to close now. The best way to do that is with policies that ensure that Germany remains Germany and that we have the immigration and security questions under control. Seehofer told broadcaster ZDF: The Christian Democrats will have to get together and explore whether a government is possible; we owe this to our country (...) We don t want (a coalition) with the AfD or with the Left party, but all other democratic forces should at least speak to each other and explore what is can be achieved over the next years. But the CSU will not enter into any false compromises that would cement the division of our country. ALEXANDER DOBRINDT, a senior CSU member, said: I believe for everyone in the government this is a bitter election night. But I think it is too early to draw conclusions - like the SPD. THOMAS DE MAIZIERE, senior CDU member and interior minister, said: We all have responsibility for the country, we cannot say after six weeks that we need new elections because we didn t manage (to form a coalition)... that would be the worst signal, then the Left and AfD would end up getting even more votes, and that would not be right. VOLKER KAUDER, parliamentary floor leader of Merkel s conservatives, told ARD television that his party reached its goal to win the election. We have the mandate to lead the next government, Kauder said. CENTRE-LEFT SOCIAL DEMOCRATS (SPD) MARTIN SCHULZ, SPD party leader and chancellor candidate, told supporters in Berlin that this election was a bitter day for Germany s Social Democrats, adding: Especially depressing for all of us is the strength of the AfD, which for the first time brings a right-wing party into German parliament in such a strong position. This is a turning point. The fact that we took in more than 1 million refugees in our country is still dividing in our country. What for some has been an act of humanity and charity is to others menacing, strange and filled with fear. We did not manage to persuade all of our voters that Germany is strong enough not to leave anyone behind, Schulz said. Schulz told ZDF broadcaster: We cannot have an extreme right-wing party leading the opposition in Germany, therefore ... we will go into opposition. He added: Our role is quite clear: we are the opposition party. Schulz told ARD broadcaster: I have the full backing of the party leadership to lead and renew the party... But I will not aim for (parliamentary) floor leadership but fully concentrate on the renewal of the party. MANUELA SCHWESIG, SPD deputy party leader, told ZDF broadcaster: That is a really bad result for the SPD. That is a heavy defeat... For us, the grand coalition ends today. For us it s clear that we ll go into opposition as demanded by voters. THOMAS OPPERMANN, SPD parliamentary floor leader, told ARD broadcaster: We must of course accept the voters choice, they (AfD) are a party in parliament now... But I will say very clearly that if there are any racist tones in this parliament, we will object to them, very clearly. Oppermann told broadcaster ARD, when asked whether Schulz would remain party head: Martin Schulz started the renewal process of the SPD at the party meeting in March, and he will continue that renewal. We win together and we lose together. PRO-BUSINESS FREE DEMOCRATS (FDP) CHRISTIAN LINDNER, FDP party leader told ZDF television: We want to reverse the trend for our country and if it becomes apparent in talks that these goals can be achieved then of course we will be available (for a coalition) but if not, then it would be our task to go into opposition. Lindner added: It s about stability now, all parties have to take responsibility. We will not be pushed into a coalition just because the SPD makes a unilateral retreat into the opposition. WOLFGANG KUBICKI, FDP deputy party leader, told broadcaster ARD: You cannot force the Greens and us into a coalition just because the SPD bows out. CEM OZDEMIR, top election candidate for the Greens, said the party would not take part in anti-European populism in a possible coalition with the conservatives and the FDP. He told broadcaster ZDF that climate change and social justice policies were requirements for the Greens to form a government. KATRIN GOERING-ECKARDT, top candidate for the Greens, said: We have a job to do for the voters. They voted for us as a party that represents a united Europe, as an ecological party that stands for environmental protection, we have a climate pact from Paris and will push for that to be implemented. And we stand for fairness... We will see if there can be cooperation. FAR-RIGHT ALTERNATIVE FOR GERMANY (AFD) ALEXANDER GAULAND, top AFD election candidate, said: The government, whatever it will look like, should get ready for tough times. We ll chase them. We ll take back our country and our people. JOERG MEUTHEN, AfD party co-leader, said: What is happening in our country is a gradual dissolution of our nation. Let us talk about that in a democratic discourse. I accept that some people have a different opinion. FAR-LEFT LEFT PARTY SAHRA WAGENKNECHT, top election candidate of the Left, blamed the governing parties, Merkel s conservatives and the SPD, for the success of the anti-immigration AfD. She added that her party scored its second-best election result. I hope that the SPD sticks with its decision of going into the opposition, Wagenknecht added. But I also hope that won t be their only decision, that they realize that we need a social democratic party with social democratic policies if we don t want the AfD to keep getting stronger. THOMAS GITZEL, VP Bank chief economist, said: The real shocker today is: The SPD wants to go into opposition. The only remaining option is a Jamaica coalition of CDU, FDP and the Greens. Three-party alliances are difficult to form and often unstable. HOLGER SCHMIEDING, Berenberg Bank chief economist: The consequences for Germany s economic policies are nearly zero. The positions of (the three parties in) a possible Jamaica coalition are not that far apart. Schmieding added: If the FDP were to take over the Finance Ministry, a FDP Finance Minister would not differ significantly from Schaeuble s positions on Europe. I think there won t be major changes regarding Berlin s stance on Europe. | 1 |
1,783 | LOL! Democrats To Sue Over “Unprecedented Environmental Catastrophe” Trump Wall Poses To Birds…Ignores Actual Bird Blenders Pushed By Democrats [VIDEO] | A conservation group and Democrat Congressman have filed a lawsuit to demanding an environmental study is performed before construction of Trump s wall on the border between the US and Mexico. Biologist Jeff Corwin paid a visit to MSNBC to breathlessly warn viewers about the dangers of the wall President Trump plans to build on the Texas-Mexico border national security purposes. He warned viewers of the unprecedented environmental catastrophic consequences Trump s wall on wildlife. The MSNBC host responds to his highly dramatic warning by asking drama queen Jeff Crowin, At the risk of sounding ignorant or foolish the birds specifically Wouldn t they be able to fly over that wall?' HILARIOUS!Not surprisingly, there was no mention of wind turbines in Texas during the interview.Watch:Meanwhile in America, Democrats remain silent about the bird holocaust caused by wind turbines every year. An estimated 140,000 to 328,000 birds are killed every year in N. America by these green energy bird blenders.Instead of worrying about Trump s wall killing birds how about addressing these wind turbines in oil-rich Texas that liberal federally-funded NPR promoted while using a picture of turbines on top of a huge wall of dirt? NPR Another record was set for wind power generation this week, according to the group that manages much of the state s power. The Electric Reliability Council of Texas(ERCOT) says Wednesday evening, wind power generation on the grid reached10,296 megawatts (MW), or enough to power 5 million Texas homes during times of regular demand. That beat the previous record of actual generation by 600 megawatts, roughly the equivalent of a medium-sized fossil fuel power plant.Here s the real danger to birds in America that few Democrats are willing to address:In 2010 David Newstead, a U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service field biologist, visited the Gulf shoreline of Laguna Madre, Texas, to survey skimmers, terns, and egrets. But it was a flock of 15 American White Pelicans that caught his eye, flying toward the nearby Pe ascal wind farm. As he watched, a pelican at the flock s tail end was swiped by a massive turbine blade and literally erased from the air, Newstead wrote afterwards. This in itself isn t surprising wind turbines are notorious bird killers but this specific farm was supposedly equipped with radar that could detect approaching birds and halt the blades. The radar had failed to do its job.Watch as what appears as this bird that appears to be an eagle, is killed as it s chopped by a blade on this powerful wind turbine:Wind turbines kill an estimated 140,000 to 328,000 birds each year in North America, making it the most threatening form of green energy. And yet, it s also one of the most rapidly expanding energy industries: more than 49,000 individual wind turbines now exist across 39 states. Audubon | 0 |
1,784 | France's Macron tells Trump concerned over Jerusalem plans | PARIS (Reuters) - French President Emmanuel Macron told U.S. President Donald Trump on Monday that he was worried about the possibility that the United States could unilaterally recognize Jerusalem as the capital of Israel, Macron s office said in a statement. The French President expressed his concern over the possibility that the United States would unilaterally recognize Jerusalem as the capital of Israel, the statement said, after Macron and Trump spoke over the phone. Mr Emmanuel Macron reaffirmed that the question of Jerusalem s status had to be dealt with in the framework of peace negotiations between Israelis and Palestinians, with the aim in particular to establish two countries, Israel and Palestine, living in peace and security side by side with Jerusalem as capital. Trump has not yet made a decision on whether to formally recognize Jerusalem as Israel s capital, his adviser and son-in-law Jared Kushner said on Sunday, a move that would break with decades of U.S. policy and could fuel violence in the Middle East. | 1 |
1,785 | U.S. expels 15 Cuban diplomats, fuelling tensions with Havana | WASHINGTON/HAVANA (Reuters) - The Trump administration on Tuesday expelled 15 Cuban diplomats to protest Cuba’s failure to protect staff at the U.S. embassy in Havana from a mysterious spate of health “attacks,” spurring new tensions between the former Cold War foes. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson said the expulsions from Cuba’s embassy in Washington were also intended to ensure “equity” in staffing levels, after he recalled more than half the U.S. diplomatic personnel in Havana on Friday. Cuban Foreign Minister Bruno Rodriguez denounced the decision as “unjustified,” accused the United States of insufficient cooperation with Cuba’s investigation of the health incidents and urged Washington to stop politicizing the matter. The steps taken by Republican President Donald Trump’s administration delivers another blow to his Democratic predecessor Barack Obama’s policy of rapprochement, including actions likely to erode the normalization of a relationship dominated for decades by mutual hostility and suspicion. The latest U.S. move was communicated to Cuban Ambassador Jose Ramon Cabanas on Tuesday, and the diplomats were given seven days to leave, a State Department official said, speaking on condition of anonymity. “Until the Government of Cuba can ensure the safety of our diplomats in Cuba, our embassy will be reduced to emergency personnel to minimize the number of diplomats at risk of exposure to harm,” Tillerson said in a statement. “We continue to maintain diplomatic relations with Cuba, and will continue to cooperate with Cuba as we pursue the investigation into these attacks,” he added. The United States announced on Friday that it was sharply reducing its diplomatic presence in Cuba, as it warned U.S. citizens not to visit the Communist-ruled island because of the alleged attacks it says have caused hearing loss, dizziness and fatigue in 22 U.S. embassy personnel. The State Department had said the embassy was halting regular visa operations for Cubans seeking to visit the United States and would offer only emergency services to U.S. citizens. Cuba has denied involvement in any attacks and says it has reinforced security for U.S. diplomatic personnel. Rodriguez said lack of U.S. cooperation had stymied its own investigation into the matter. Authorities had not provided access to the injured people and the doctors who examined them, or to the homes where the attacks allegedly took place, he said, adding that evidence had been delivered late. Rodriguez urged the United States to cooperate more and said Cuba was also working with Canada on the investigation as Canadian diplomats have reported similar symptoms. So far, none of the probes have yielded any answers about how the alleged attacks were carried out or who was responsible. Several Cuban-American Republican lawmakers, including U.S Senator Marco Rubio and Representative Ileana Ros-Lehtinen, had urged that Cuban diplomats be kicked out in retaliation for the Cuban government’s failure to get to the bottom of the attacks. “I commend the U.S. State Department for expelling a number of Cuban operatives from the U.S.,” Rubio, an influential voice on Trump’s Cuba policy, said in a statement. But James Williams, president of Engage Cuba, a Washington-based pro-engagement lobbying group said: “This decision appears to be purely political, driven by the desire of a handful of individuals in Congress to halt progress between our two countries.” “It looks like we are returning the threats and tensions of the 1960s,” said Maria Fernandez, a 45-year-old office worker in Havana. “This is madness by Trump. It’s really sad, because we are so close, and yet so far away from a sincere rapprochement.” Trump, who in June vowed to partially roll back the detente with Cuba agreed by his Democratic predecessor Obama after five decades of hostility, called the Cuban government “corrupt and destabilizing” in his address to the United Nations last month. Cuba described his comments as “unacceptable and meddling.” Rodriguez urged the United States “not to continue politicizing this matter, which can provoke an undesirable escalation and could rarify and reverse even more bilateral relations.” In Havana, U.S. diplomats frantically selling off their belongings at garage sales and on social media, said they were disappointed to be ordered to leave. In a message on Facebook, the embassy’s top official, career diplomat Scott Hamilton, said he would also be leaving. “I am an optimist and hope we will return one day, before too long,” he wrote. “Hasta la proxima Cuba.” | 1 |
1,786 | Iraqi parliament asks leader Abadi to take back Kurd-held Kirkuk | BAGHDAD (Reuters) - The Iraqi parliament on Wednesday asked Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi to send troops to the Kurdish-held region of Kirkuk and take control of its oilfields. Kurdish Pehsmerga fighters took control of Kirkuk, a multi-ethnic region, in 2014 when the Iraqi army fled in the face of Islamic State militants who overran about a third of Iraq. The Kurdish move prevented the oilfields from falling into the militants hands. The area, historically claimed by the Kurds, is also home to Turkmen and Arab communities. The Kurdistan Regional Government included it in the independence referendum held on Monday. The government has to bring back the oilfields of Kirkuk under the control of the oil ministry, said the resolution voted by parliament in Baghdad, seen by Reuters. It called on Abadi to issue orders for the security forces to deploy in the disputed areas, including Kirkuk . | 1 |
1,787 | Democrats ask White House about Trump son-in-law's potential conflicts | WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Three Democratic lawmakers questioned the White House on Wednesday over its handling of U.S. President Donald Trump’s son-in-law’s potential conflicts of interest now that he is serving as an official adviser. Jared Kushner, a real estate developer who advised Trump during the presidential campaign, was cleared by the U.S. Department of Justice in January to serve as a White House senior adviser. Kushner, who is married to Trump’s eldest daughter, Ivanka, has been given a wide range of domestic and foreign policy responsibilities, including working on a Middle East peace deal. In a letter to Deputy White House Counsel Stefan Passantino, Democratic Senators Elizabeth Warren and Tom Carper expressed concern over media reports that Kushner is maintaining some business interests, and asked how the White House plans to comply with laws that prohibit federal officials from profiting by government work. “Neither the White House nor Mr. Kushner’s attorneys, however, has confirmed which financial assets Mr. Kushner still controls,” making oversight “impossible,” they wrote with U.S. Representative Elijah Cummings, the senior Democrat on the Committee on Oversight and Government Reform in the House of Representatives. They also said the White House, unlike previous administrations, is not posting ethics-pledge waivers on its websites, adding that the public should know the issues from which Kushner must recuse himself. The White House had no immediate comment on the letter. A lawyer for Kushner, Jamie Gorelick, said in a statement: “Mr. Kushner is fully complying with the ethics rules, removing himself from active participation in his prior businesses, divesting of substantial assets and recusing himself where appropriate in light of interests that he is not divesting.” Before Trump took office on Jan. 20, Gorelick said her client would leave his family’s company, divest substantial assets and recuse himself from matters that could affect his financial interests, Bloomberg reported. Public interest journalism site ProPublica, citing documents submitted to the U.S. Office of Government Ethics, reported in February that Kushner had divested some assets but was keeping other holdings linked to privately held Kushner Companies. In authorizing Kushner’s appointment, the Justice Department ruled that Trump, as president, has special hiring authority that exempts White House positions from laws barring the president from naming a relative to lead a federal agency. The Democratic lawmakers called on the White House for details on what holdings Kushner maintains, a list of issues he will recuse himself from, and copies of any ethics waivers. They also raised questions about holdings belonging to his wife, who established a clothing and jewelry line, and whether that would lead Kushner to recuse himself from any issues. Trump himself has said he would maintain ownership of his global business empire but would hand off control to his two oldest sons while president. | 1 |
1,788 | Investors see shades of Quebec in Catalonia vote | (Removes erroneous reference to Montreal as Quebec s capital in this Dec. 5 story) By Sonya Dowsett and Allison Lampert MADRID/MONTREAL (Reuters) - A flight by businesses from Catalonia s independence crisis has drawn comparisons with Quebec, the French-speaking Canadian province that deterred investors with a decades-long independence push. Opinion polls showed support for pro-independence parties at just under 50 percent as campaigning for a Dec. 21 election began on Tuesday, enough to dampen the Madrid government s hopes the vote would end a volatile standoff over secession. Carrying on as before means chaos, said Jordi Alberich, managing director of Cercle d Economia, a business association based in the Catalan capital, Barcelona. What has happened is tremendously serious and it could get even worse. The election is seen by pro-independence parties as a de-facto referendum on a split from Spain following a banned plebiscite which led to clashes between Spanish police and protesters on Oct 1 and the subsequent dismissal of the Catalan government by Madrid. While it may not propel secessionist forces back into regional government, it could end up sustaining their cause and thereby putting off investors over the longer term. Almost 3,000 firms have shifted their headquarters outside the region, many to Madrid, mirroring the flight of companies from Quebec s Montreal for Toronto before and after its first referendum in 1980 delivered defeat for independence. The Catalan exodus has so far been administrative rather than physical, with companies effectively shifting domiciles, the brass plate of the business, to avoid legal and tax complications rather than moving staff or operations. They fear secession would leave them outside the euro zone and exposed to the uncertain policies and possible tax grabs of a new republic burdened by the region s existing large debts. Madrid, eager for unionist parties to score a clear victory on Dec. 21 and put the crisis to rest, says the economic impact will be only short term, but there are signs the uncertainty is already affecting longer-term investment decisions. If I had been contacted by an American investor asking: Should I open a small office in Barcelona? three or four years ago, I would have said: Yes, of course , said the Spain country head for an international investment bank. Now I can t say that anymore ... The pain inflicted by the independence process scares money away. He, like other bankers and chief executives, declined to speak publicly because the issue is divisive. Those who speak out for one side or other can become targets of criticism and abuse. The Spanish government has already trimmed its 2018 economic growth forecast to 2.3 percent due to the Catalan crisis, and its Independent Authority of Fiscal Responsibility has warned of a bigger impact next year if it is not resolved. Tourism to the region and its main draw card, Barcelona, has slumped, leading to Spain s first fall in retail sales for more than three years. Spain s economy minister recently noted a strong deceleration in Catalonia in the final quarter, and the central bank published an analysis last month based on scenarios that implied impacts ranging from modest to dramatic. In the worst case, it said political uncertainty could cut economic growth by 2.5 percentage points between end-2017 and 2019. In a recent report, Catalonia, history repeating? , Canadian bank RBC Capital Markets compared it with the fallout from Quebec s 1995 referendum, which delivered the narrowest of defeats for independence and was followed by economic decline. "Even if the independence parties fall short of a majority, the damage may have already been done," it said of Catalonia's December vote. Graphic tmsnrt.rs/2AGBazV The Spanish region s pro-independence camp says it pays more than its fair share of tax income out of the country s 17 regions and during the five-year economic crisis its stronger economy propped up poorer areas such as Andalusia and Murcia. The biggest pro-independence party, Esquerra Republicana de Catalunya (ERC), has dismissed government warnings secession would cause economic damage and launched its campaign focusing on social issues like housing and energy poverty. Quebec s independence movement, triggered by the 1960s push by French-speakers for economic equality, led to a decline in the province s English-speaking population and its economic affluence, with banks and companies moving their head offices from Montreal, then a thriving financial hub. Canada s second-most populous province has made economic strides in recent years, but it continues to lag other provinces in indicators like household income. Between 1970 and 1981, as pro-sovereignty Parti Quebecois gained political momentum, Montreal lost 18,992 head offices in resource, manufacturing and service sectors, according to a 1983 University of Saskatchewan study. Canada s largest life insurance company was among those which left in 1977. Politics was not the only factor. Montreal s older manufacturing economy was already facing competition from Toronto. The relative decline of Montreal and the exodus of headquarters was no doubt exacerbated by politics but was not solely caused by politics, said Richard Shearmur, a professor at McGill University s school of urban planning in Montreal. The Catalan crisis has drawn interest in Quebec: last week, two members of Catalonia s secessionist Candidatura d Unitat Popular (CUP) party spoke at an event organised by a left-leaning Quebec opposition party. But Quebec polls show support for separation, especially among young adults, is in decline, while in Catalonia polls show pro-independence parties continue to command strong support. The last Catalan government was made up of a coalition of pro-independence parties under the name Together for Yes , propped up by CUP lawmakers who did not join the government s ranks. Opinion polls show pro-independence and pro-unity parties almost in a dead heat for December s election. | 1 |
1,789 | Exiled son of Yemen's Saleh takes up anti-Houthi cause | SANAA/DUBAI (Reuters) - The powerful exiled son of Yemen s slain ex-president Ali Abdullah Saleh vowed on Tuesday to lead a campaign against the Houthi movement that killed his father after he switched sides in the civil war. The intervention by Ahmed Ali Saleh, a former leader of the elite Republican Guard once seen as a likely successor to his father, gives the anti-Houthi movement in Sanaa a potential figurehead, after a week of fighting that saw the Houthis rout Saleh s supporters in the capital. Yemen s war, pitting the Iran-allied Houthis who control Sanaa against a Saudi-led military alliance backing a government based in the south, has brought what the United Nations calls the world s worst humanitarian crisis. The world body says millions of people may die in one of the worst famines of modern times, caused by warring parties blocking food supplies. Saleh had helped the Houthis win control of much of the country s north including Sanaa, and his decision to switch allegiances and abandon the Houthis in the past week was the most dramatic change on the battlefield in years. But the Houthis swiftly crushed a pro-Saleh uprising in the capital and shot him dead in an attack on his convoy. Tens of thousands of Houthi supporters staged a rally in the capital on Tuesday to show support for their leader and celebrate the death of Saleh. They chanted slogans against Saudi Arabia and its allies. Mahmoud Ali al-Houthi, head of the movement s Revolutionary Committee, denied allegations that the group was executing members of Saleh s party after their capture: We have been treating some of Saleh s sons and we haven t executed them, he told the crowd. Sanaa saw no fresh fighting on Tuesday after five days of combat that the Red Cross said killed more than 230 people. The Saudi-led coalition struck the city with 25 air strikes overnight, but U.N. and Red Cross aid flights were able to land at the airport, U.N. humanitarian coordinator in Yemen Jamie McGoldrick said. People are now emerging from their houses after five days being locked down basically as prisoners, McGoldrick told a U.N. briefing by phone from Sanaa. They are now seeking safety, moving their families in case things erupt again and at the same time seeking medical treatment and trying to pacify very terrified kids who have endured five days of relentless shelling, shooting and ground fire and air strikes. The Saudi cabinet, in a statement that did not mention Saleh by name, said it hoped the Sanaa uprising against the Houthis would help rid sisterly Yemen of repression, death threats, ... explosions and seizure of private and public property . The death of Saleh, who once compared ruling Yemen to dancing on the heads of snakes, deepens the complexity of the multi-sided war. Much is likely to depend on the future allegiances of his loyalists, who had previously helped the armed Houthi group, which hails from the Zaidi branch of Shi ite Islam that ruled a thousand-year kingdom in northern Yemen until 1962. In a statement sent to Reuters by an aide, his son said his father was killed at the hands of the enemies of God and the country . Ahmed Ali said he would confront the enemies of the homeland and humanity, who are trying to obliterate its identity and its gains and to humiliate Yemen and Yemenis . In an earlier statement carried by Saudi state media, Ahmed Ali said he would lead the battle until the last Houthi is thrown out of Yemen ... the blood of my father will be hell ringing in the ears of Iran. The Arabian peninsula s poorest country, Yemen is one of the most violent fronts in a proxy war between Saudi Arabia and Iran, who have also backed opposing sides in Syria, Iraq and elsewhere across the Middle East. The Saudi-led coalition appears to have been counting on Saleh s decision to switch sides to tip the balance of the war. Saleh, who ruled in Sanaa from 1978-2012, had a strong following in Yemen, including army officers and armed tribal leaders who once served under him. During the years the ex-president was allied to the Houthis, Yemeni political sources say Ahmed Ali was living incommunicado under house arrest at a guarded villa in the UAE capital Abu Dhabi, where he had served as ambassador. The UAE is a key member of the mostly Gulf Arab alliance that sees the Houthis as a proxy of their arch-enemy Iran. The Gulf countries had struggled to make gains against the Houthi-Saleh alliance despite thousands of air strikes backed by Western arms and intelligence. They have used their air and sea power to tightly restrict imports, action that the United Nations says could lead to mass hunger. Ahmed Ali may be the family s last chance to win back influence. A nephew of the former leader, Tareq Mohammed Abdullah Saleh, a senior military commander, was also killed during clashes with the Houthis, Saleh s party said on Tuesday. Residents reported that fighting had subsided but that Saudi-led coalition jets pounded several targets, including the downtown presidential palace where a governing body led by Houthi-Saleh politicians had regularly convened. The Houthi leader, Abdul Malek al-Houthi, hailed Saleh s death in a speech on Monday as a victory against a treasonous conspiracy by Yemen s Saudi enemies and called for Tuesday s mass rally at a parade ground near the site of the air strikes. In the southern city of Aden, where the Saudi-backed government is based, residents set off fireworks and expressed joy. Saleh was hated throughout southern Yemen after he launched a war to unify the country in 1994, lobbing ballistic missiles at the city. But his legacy is mixed. He is still loved in much of the north and many supporters will bear a grudge towards his killers. Some feared Saleh s death would only create more instability in Yemen. We expect things will get worse for us. This will be the beginning of a new conflict and more bloodshed. The war will not end soon, said Aswan Abdu Khalid, an academic at the psychology department at the University of Aden. | 1 |
1,790 | Spain's creditors size up cost of Catalan independence bid | LONDON (Reuters) - Investors who lend billions of euros to Spain every year are struggling to sketch out the repercussions for the country s finances of a possible independence proclamation by the wealthy region of Catalonia. Regional leader Carles Puigdemont prepared to address on Tuesday a parliamentary session that may unilaterally declare independence from Spain following a banned referendum on Oct. 1. Such a move would drive a wedge between the Spanish government and a region that makes up a fifth of the country s economic output and more than a quarter of its exports. As one fund manager told Reuters, working out how all this will pan out for the euro zone s fourth largest economy is so complicated it makes Brexit look like a walk in the park, but here are some of the best guesses so far: This is the scenario - considered unlikely by many analysts that could prove most damaging to Spain s overall financial position, its economy and government borrowing costs. Secession would be also expected to harm Catalonia s economy, while uncertainty is likely to push up bond yields in both a newly-independent state as well as for Spain. According to ABN AMRO, Catalan independence could raise Spain s government-debt ratio to as high as 115 percent of GDP from current levels around 99 percent - leapfrogging Cyprus and Belgium to have the fourth largest debt load in the euro area. However, Catalonia has said it would take responsibility for its share of central government debt, reducing the burden on Spain. But the real problem would be how Spain would balance its books without Catalonia s contribution. At roughly 4.5 percent of GDP in 2016, Spain already has the highest budget deficit in the euro zone. Fathom Consulting said if Catalonia leaves, the economic shock could see the budget deficit run to nearly 7 percent in a couple of years - back to levels seen in the wake of the euro zone debt crisis. ABN AMRO forecasts a deficit of 5.5-6 percent. Many analysts expect the likely outcome of Spain s worst political crisis in decades will be greater devolution of powers to Catalonia like those enjoyed by the Basque country. But generous fiscal autonomy from Madrid could come at considerable cost to the public purse. According to a 2014 study by research house CSIC, the Spanish state could lose about 16 billion euros. That would equal about 13 percent of next year s budget. It would be painful economically, said Tim Davis, chief investment strategist at Fathom Consulting. The budget deficit in Spain would increase and then you would need to see some kind of additional austerity to plug that gap or you would start to see bond yields rise. It does not seem there is any outcome that leaves Spain s economy unscathed. Rating agencies have already said the tensions alone could have negative consequences for Spain s credit rank, deterring investment and weakening the ability of Spain s minority Popular Party government to implement national policy. The crisis already looks to have claimed its first victim: a delay in passing the 2018 budget. Tensions will only increase if Catalonia defies Madrid and declares independence over the coming days. One of the tools at Spain s disposal is to trigger Article 155 of the constitution, which would allows it to take control of devolved powers. (This story has been refiled to remove erroneous word in paragraph 3.) | 1 |
1,791 | Bridgewater executive McCormick declines Defense Department role | NEW YORK (Reuters) - David McCormick has declined an offer to be U.S. deputy secretary of defense in President-elect Donald Trump’s administration, a person familiar with the situation said on Tuesday. It had been unclear how seriously McCormick - an Army veteran and former federal official who is now president of the world’s largest hedge fund manager, Bridgewater Associates LP - had been considered for the post. McCormick, who had previously been under consideration to be Treasury Secretary, declined partly because he is happy with his job at Bridgewater and the government role was not the right fit, said the person, who requested anonymity because the information is private. Westport, Connecticut-based Bridgewater declined to comment. McCormick did not immediately respond to an email seeking comment. The news of his withdrawal was first reported by Bloomberg. The Washington Post said the Trump team was considering keeping the current deputy defense secretary, Robert Work, on for at least several months. Retired Marine General James “Mad Dog” Mattis has been nominated to be Trump’s defense secretary, succeeding current Pentagon chief Ash Carter. Before joining Bridgewater, McCormick, a West Point graduate, was both a White House adviser and U.S. Treasury under secretary for international affairs under Republican President George W. Bush. | 1 |
1,792 | Paul Ryan: There Will Be No Mass Deportations (VIDEO) | Now that Donald Trump has scared and fleeced uneducated, gullible people into giving him the White House, there are many concerns regarding many of his campaign promises namely the insane so-called deportation force that will round people up and ship them from the country. Thanks to the many, many protests regarding Trump s win, it is now up to the leadership of the GOP to clean up Trump s mess, because he is incapable of doing so himself. Therefore, House Speaker Paul Ryan went on CNN s State of the Union to speak to Jake Tapper on Sunday, in which he addressed the promise of mass deportations. Ryan said: We are not planning on erecting a deportation force. Donald Trump is not planning on that. That s not what we re focused on. We re focused on securing the border. We think that s first and foremost, before we get into any other immigration issue. We ve got to know who s coming and going in the country. We ve got to secure the border. Of course, this is not what Trump himself said on the campaign trail. Here is what Trump insisted, via The Hill: You re going to have a deportation force, and you re going to do it humanely, Trump said a year ago. Look, we have to do what we have to do, and Ike did it and other people have done it, Trump said, referring to President Dwight Eisenhower s policy of deporting 1.5 million people by bus and dropping them off at remote parts of the border.So, whose promise should we trust? Ryan s or Trump s? Considering the lying, sniveling, skeevy nature of today s Republican Party, we must assume the worst That they are planning on mass deportations, but want people to be caught unaware when they start.These people are truly frightening. Buckle up, folks. It s going to be a long four years.Paul Ryan: We are not planning on erecting a deportation force https://t.co/KNeF02vhbv #CNNSOTU https://t.co/skw76OndVK CNN Politics (@CNNPolitics) November 13, 2016Featured image via video screen capture | 0 |
1,793 | Anti-Gay Texas Attorney General Faces Disbarment | The Texas Bar Association is stepping up to the plate to nail Ken Paxton for violating legal ethics.After the Supreme Court ruled same-sex marriage legal across the nation last summer, some red states threw a collective hissy fit over the decision. In Alabama, state Supreme Court Chief Justice Roy Moore ordered county judges to disobey the highest court in the land.Texas Republicans also threw a temper tantrum, especially Attorney General Ken Paxton, who told county clerks to defy the Supreme Court ruling as well. I will do everything I can from this office to be a public voice for those standing in defense of their rights, Paxton vowed a day after the ruling came down. But unlike Moore, Ken Paxton could end up losing his status on the bar.Because he told clerks to violate the law as interpreted by the Supreme Court, the Texas Bar Association has launched an investigation against Paxton for ethics violations.The new investigation against Paxton comes on top of his indictment for committing securities fraud. If convicted, he faces up to 99 years in prison.Houston lawyer Eddie Rodriguez said that the Board of Disciplinary Appeals is looking into whether or not Paxton should be disbarred, which would prevent him from practicing law in the state, provided being thrown in prison doesn t do the trick first. Attorney General Paxton has a right to disagree with a ruling of the Supreme Court, Rodriguez told Reuters. Lawyers do that every single day. What makes a difference is that you cannot encourage people to violate that ruling and that law. Of course, Paxton denies being an unethical slug. This complaint has always lacked merit, and we are confident the legal process for resolving these complaints will bear that out, a statement from his office said.As usual, it will take time for the investigation to run its course before a decision is made, but it s hard to believe a legitimate bar association would allow Paxton to continue being a lawyer since it is clear that he defied federal law and the order of the Supreme Court to let same-sex couples legally marry. If they don t remove him from the bar, what does that say about the ethics of the Texas Bar Association itself?Featured image from texasattorneygeneral.gov | 0 |
1,794 | Republican campaign for White House turns nastier as field narrows | HENNIKER, N.H. (Reuters) - Campaigning for the Republican presidential nomination took a nasty turn on Wednesday with billionaire businessman Donald Trump accusing rival Ted Cruz of fraud as the field of candidates narrowed ahead of next week’s New Hampshire primary. Rand Paul, a U.S. senator from Kentucky with a libertarian philosophy, pulled out of the Republican race. Conservative Rick Santorum also exited the race on Wednesday and endorsed U.S. Senator Marco Rubio of Florida. Both Paul and Santorum, a former senator from Pennsylvania, did poorly in Monday’s Iowa caucuses, which were won by Cruz, with Trump and Rubio finishing second and third. The caucuses were the first of the state-by-state nominating contests ahead of the Nov. 8 election to replace Democratic President Barack Obama. Trump, a real estate mogul and former reality TV star, went on Twitter on Wednesday to accuse the conservative U.S. senator from Texas of stealing his victory in Iowa. Cruz’s team hit back by telling Trump to seek help for addiction to the social media site. The two men are going head-to-head for voters in New Hampshire, where Cruz’s evangelical Christian credentials will not likely be as helpful as they were in Iowa. Opinion polls show Trump with a roughly 20-point lead in New Hampshire before next Tuesday’s primary. As the New Hampshire race heats up, the Democratic presidential contenders will face off later on Wednesday in a town hall-style event hosted by CNN. Former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton narrowly beat Bernie Sanders, a U.S. senator from Vermont, in Iowa. Trump called for the nullification of Cruz’s Iowa victory or a new vote in the state. “Ted Cruz didn’t win Iowa, he stole it,” Trump said in a series of tweets. “That is why all of the polls were so wrong and why he got far more votes than anticipated. Bad!” “Oh that voter fraud, you know, these politicians are brutal,” Trump said later at a rally in Little Rock, Arkansas. “They are a bunch of dishonest cookies, I want to tell you.” Trump referred to an email that Cruz’s campaign sent on Monday that implied another Republican candidate, Ben Carson, was about to drop out of the race and that his Iowa backers should be urged to vote for the Texan instead. Cruz later apologized for the email. Trump also accused Cruz’s team of sending out a mailer designed to look like an official electoral document to scare Iowa voters into turning out at the caucuses. The accusations were the latest aggressive tactic from Trump, who has courted controversy with attacks on other candidates and by urging a temporary ban on Muslims entering the United States and branding Mexican immigrants as criminals. Obama visited a mosque near Baltimore on Wednesday, declaring that attacks on Islam were an attack on all faiths, in a move to counter rhetoric from Trump and other Republican candidates that have alienated Muslims. The Cruz campaign said Trump’s complaint was a cry for attention after the senator came from behind in the polls to win on Monday. A Cruz spokesman suggested he seek help for “Twitter addiction.” “It is no surprise that Donald is throwing yet another temper-tantrum, or if you like, yet another Trumpertantrum,” Cruz said. “I understand that Donald finds it very hard to lose … but at the end of the day, the Iowa people spoke.” Cruz won support in Iowa from much of the same conservative Christian constituency that helped Santorum to victory in the Iowa caucuses during the 2012 presidential campaign. But Santorum failed to take off in the 2016 race. He said on Fox News he was suspending his run and called Rubio a “born leader.” The endorsement came as Rubio came under attack by rivals seeking to curry favor in New Hampshire. Rubio said he looked forward to teaming up with Santorum. “We want to use him as often as he’s willing to work for us,” Rubio said. Earlier on Wednesday, Paul became the second Republican to drop out of the race since the Iowa caucuses, after former Arkansas Governor Mike Huckabee. (Additional reporting by Amy Tennery in New York, Doina Chiacu, Susan Heavey and Eric Beech in Washington and Roberta Rampton in Maryland; Writing by Alistair Bell; Editing by Bill Trott and Peter Cooney) SAP is the sponsor of this content. It was independently created by Reuters’ editorial staff and funded in part by SAP, which otherwise has no role in this coverage. | 1 |
1,795 | U.S. urges Congolese security forces' restraint, probe into violence | WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The U.S. State Department on Wednesday called on the Democratic Republic of the Congo to protect civilians affected by violence in the country s east, and urged its security forces to refrain from excessive force. Department spokeswoman Heather Nauert said the U.S. government was dismayed by the deaths of 30 refugees from Burundi and a Congolese soldier in the city of Kamanyola last week, adding: The cause of the violence must be determined and perpetrators must be held accountable. | 1 |
1,796 | weil sie sich prügelten gefängnisdirektor erteilt häftlingen lebenslanges hausverbot | morgen neu am kiosk postillon am sonntag außerdem in dieser ausgabe ratgeber dreieck zeichnen in drei schritten s rebell oder terrorist der große syrienrätselspaß seite mich gibts auch mit touchleiste die besten altherrenwitze für applefans seite | 0 |
1,797 | OSCE watchdog criticizes German social media law as too broad | VIENNA (Reuters) - The OSCE media watchdog on Wednesday criticized a German law designed to fine social media networks for dragging their feet in removing hateful postings for being too broad and called on lawmakers to consider amending it. The German parliament in June approved legislation, in force since the beginning of the month, that allows authorities to punish groups such as Facebook or Twitter if they do not promptly delete hate postings. Harlem Desire, the media freedom chief of the 57-state Organisation for Security and Co-operation in Europe, said he hoped the German law would encourage providers to speedily process users complaints, but added its effects could be excessively restrictive. I appeal to the German authorities to take steps to ensure the careful implementation of the law, evaluate its effects and be ready to amend it in parliament, if necessary, as in its current form, the law may have a chilling effect on freedom of expression, Desire said in a statement. According to the law s provisions, decisions to remove content considered unlawful or illegitimate from social networks rests with the operators of those networks, who may remove more than is necessary or proportionate, and the list of offences for which content may be deleted is very broad. Germany has some of the world s toughest laws covering defamation, public incitement to commit crimes and threats of violence, with prison sentences for Holocaust denial or inciting hatred against minorities. However, few online cases are prosecuted. The new law gives social media networks 24 hours to delete or block obviously criminal content and seven days to deal with less clear-cut cases, with an obligation to report back to the person who filed the complaint about how they handled the case. Failure to comply could see a company fined up to 50 million euros ($59 million), and the company s chief representative in Germany fined up to 5 million euros. Critics of a new hate speech law in Germany are optimistic that it can be revised after its Social Democratic sponsors vowed to drop out of the ruling coalition following last month s national election and go into opposition. | 1 |
1,798 | Voting to elect president of South Africa’s ANC closes: delegate | JOHANNESBURG (Reuters) - Voting for the new leader of South Africa s ruling ANC ended on Monday about ten hours after delegates began casting ballots for either Deputy President Cyril Ramaphosa or Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma, a senior party source told Reuters. Voting for top 6 is done, said the source, referring to the position of president of the African National Congress and the party s five other senior posts. | 1 |
1,799 | Obama to visit Hiroshima, will not apologize for World War Two bombing | WASHINGTON/TOKYO (Reuters) - Barack Obama will become the first U.S. president to visit Hiroshima in Japan later this month, but he will not apologize for the United States’ dropping of an atomic bomb on the city at the end of World War Two, the White House said on Tuesday. Awarded the Nobel Peace Prize early in his presidency in 2009 in part for making nuclear nonproliferation a centerpiece of his agenda, Obama on May 27 will tour the site of the world’s first nuclear bombing with Japan’s Prime Minister Shinzo Abe. With the end of his last term in office approaching in January, Obama will “highlight his continued commitment to pursuing the peace and security of a world without nuclear weapons,” the White House said in a statement. “He will not revisit the decision to use the atomic bomb at the end of World War II. Instead, he will offer a forward-looking vision focused on our shared future,” Ben Rhodes, Obama’s deputy national security adviser, wrote in a separate blog. The visit comes as part of a May 21-28 swing through Asia, which will include a Group of Seven summit in Japan and his first trip to Vietnam. The Asia trip seeks to reinforce his geopolitical “pivot” toward the region, though friends and allies there have sometimes questioned Washington’s commitment. The Hiroshima tour will symbolize a new level of reconciliation between former wartime enemies who are now close allies. It will also underscore Obama’s efforts to improve U.S.-Japan ties, marked by an Asia-Pacific trade pact as well as cooperation against China’s pursuit of maritime claims and the nuclear threat from North Korea. On the final day of the summit in Japan, Obama and Abe will visit the Hiroshima Peace Memorial Park near the spot where a U.S. warplane dropped an atomic bomb 71 years ago. The decision to go to Hiroshima was hotly debated within the White House. There were concerns a U.S. presidential visit would be heavily criticized in the United States if it were seen as an apology. The bomb dropped on Aug. 6, 1945 killed thousands of people instantly and about 140,000 by the end of that year. Another was dropped on Nagasaki on Aug. 9, and Japan surrendered six days later. The majority of Americans view the bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki as justified to end the war and save U.S lives. Most Japanese see it as unjustified. Obama’s press secretary Josh Earnest said it was “an entirely legitimate line of inquiry for historians” when asked why the White House had decided not to use his Hiroshima visit to issue an apology. He told reporters that while Obama understands the United States “bears a special responsibility” as the only country to use nuclear weapons in wartime, the president will emphasize Washington’s responsibility “to lead the world in an effort to eliminate them.” Abe, speaking to reporters in Tokyo, said he hoped “to turn this into an opportunity for the U.S. and Japan to together pay tribute to the memories of the victims” of the nuclear bombing. “President Obama visiting Hiroshima and expressing toward the world the reality of the impact of nuclear radiation will contribute greatly to establishing a world without nuclear arms,” Abe added. Obama’s visit will be a symbolic capstone for the nuclear disarmament agenda he laid out in a landmark speech in Prague in 2009. His aides tout last year’s Iran nuclear deal as a major piece of his foreign policy legacy. But Obama has made only modest progress toward securing the world’s loose nuclear materials, and there is no guarantee his White House successor will keep the issue a high priority. Lisbeth Gronlund, co-director of the Union of Concerned Scientists’ Global Security Program, said Obama must “do more than give another beautiful speech” and should announce concrete action on nuclear disarmament when he visits Hiroshima. After U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry visited Hiroshima last month, survivors of the bombing and other residents said that if Obama visits, they hope for progress in ridding the world of nuclear weapons, rather than an apology. | 1 |
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